This is a fascinating project. I've noticed many universities getting involved in growing the wine industry of their state (Virginia Tech, Iowa State, U of Minnesota for example), but this might be the most involved project I've heard of. What would be cool would be to see this as an overlay on the geologic makeup of an area, if that information is available at that level, to help further see what varieties would be viable at a site.

Love Pinot Noir. It's up there with my favorite varietals. Looking forward to giving this guy a try.

Really nice work, Ben, very poignant. It's always good to flex the creative muscle once in awhile, especially when you've got something relevant to share.

Absolutely. I agree with everything in this post as well as what Josh said. I think I've got about 30 wineries who have followed me, and they've given me absolutely no reason to follow them back. Though I'm more aware of their brand, I'm less likely to buy from them simply because it seems like they don't actually care about their customers; they seem like they're looking for easy publicity. The wineries who actually interact with their followers with personality are the only ones who are growing their brand on Twitter.

Amen, sir. I can't wait to get my blog up and running so I can start adequately representing some well-deserved NC wines.

Ah, my parent company is the importer for Gouguenheim. There's a 100 percent chance that either I or my coworker Darryl handled that bottle you're drinking before it got shipped out to your store. I love Argentinian wines, and the Gouguenheim is one of my favorites.

Steve, even though I'm in Virginia's corner for this experiment, I'd have to agree with you. I'm on the East Coast, still have a VA driver's license, but at least 90% of the domestic wine I consume is produced in California. It seems like times are changing, however slowly, but you're totally on point on this one right now. Haha, completely forgot to actually sign in before I posted last time.

It's not too much different from being a wino in NC, sadly... I worked at a bar here a couple years back, and the lack of knowledge about alcohol was staggering. Once, we had someone order a screwdriver with Grey Goose. They got it, tasted it, and complained they couldn't taste the alcohol in it. We remade it with Aristocrat, and they took a sip and said, "Now that's a high-quality liquor." *shudder* People trying to pronounce the wines was an exercise in futility. I gave up on correcting them after a month. "Yes, ma'am, I'll get your cabinet saw-vig-nawn, right away."