Category: Drink Local

To Be Continued...

10/20/2015

In August I found myself at Stone Tower Winery in Leesburg, just around the corner from my childhood stomping grounds. It’s atop Hogback Mountain on some 200 acres of rolling hills with a centrally located pond that reflects a beautiful mountain sunset.

They had just opened an impressive new tasting room with a cozy fireplace nook, banquet hall, dining-available tank room with adjoined underground barrel hallway and three stories of outdoor porches with stone and wood accents everywhere (queue the wedding bells). Yeah, it’s dreamy. It’s a to-be couple’s wonderland and the setting for so many beautiful photos.

I was on set that day with photographer Jeff Mauritzen, a super talented commercial and editorial photographer based in Washington, D.C., and videographer Rich Berrnett, an equally down-to-earth guy with a great sense of humor. I love attending these work-for-hire shoots and observing the process through which each photographer works the assignment: different styles, different crews, models, wardrobe, craft services, etc. I learn a heck of a lot and enjoy taking behind-the-scenes photos.

I especially love this shot of the crew. Here is Rich with a makeshift towel and bungee cord sun protectant with Jeff snapping long shots of models off frame left, both lost in concentration. This affords the perfect opportunity to comment on the importance of photographers mastering their use of surrounding materials and lighting situations. We’ve all got a little MacGyver in us: bouncing flashes here, improvising lighting there, temporary tripods, pinning clothes, cheating the camera, sandbags, gaffer tape, piles of apple boxes, cardboard. Did you know a banana peel is great for shining shoes? We're not ashamed if it gets the job done, and, in this case, Rich really needed a hat.

A few more production shots throughout the day show the crew filming models at the main tasting bar (left), the big sunset finale on the western third story porch (center) and Jeff directing models (right).

I even got a chance to enjoy a glass of wine at the end of the day, but was so exhausted I didn't take note of what I was drinking. For this reason, along with the gorgeous property and incredible hospitality of the staff and owners, I vow to return on my own time to enjoy a day of tasting and, hopefully, another beautiful sunset. To be continued...

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The Secret is Out

6/24/2015

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In January of 2014, I called the Steins Unlimited Museum in Pamplin, Virginia to arrange what I thought would be a simple tour of a stuffy exhibit room likely coated in a thin layer of dust due to frequent disuse. Please, no plexiglass, I remember thinking. There's just about nothing less exciting than photographing exhibits behind plexiglass. My hopes were high as I followed the route from Richmond towards Appomattox, the snowy landscape elevating my spirit. Google images and web searches had left me completely in the dark on this museum, and, even so, I was surprised when I pulled up to a ranch-style home a little less than an hour later. This just got interesting, I grinned.

The door was answered by an older couple who graciously invited me into a living room adorned with steins. I was greeted on my immediate left by their oldest, dating all the way back to 1594. It reminded me of Indiana Jones' Last Crusade. I knew you would come, it spoke to me. You must choose.

That's the cup of a carpenter, I nodded.

There were two bedrooms dedicated to their assortment along with a few kitchen shelves. They kept their most prized vessels inside their home while the body of their collection was housed in a building out back, a structure at least half as big as their home.

George Adams led me out the back door to the storage shed where I learned he was born and raised in Germany. He began his compilation and a lifetime of beer knowledge at a young age and now has one of the largest collections of antique steins in the world along with one of the world's largest measuring in at 32 liters.

I was fascinated by a yellowing refrigerator with a single Yuengling tap protruding from the door. Out of all the American beers he had sampled, he told me Yuengling tasted the most German-authentic. I was somewhat pleased with myself as I recalled my college days. Yuengling was our house beer. I also wondered if George had tasted many local brews. I found myself wanting to bring him a sampling of Virginia's finest, challenging him to find one that reminded him even more of home. He invited me to return in the summer with friends and our steins, saying we'd crack open a keg of Yuengling and all chat in the garden. I have yet to take him up on this, but I really should.

George also buys, sells, appraises and repairs pewter steins, so before leaving I made a purchase. I love bringing home memories from my travels, so I picked out a flagon picturing a fox on one side and a wild turkey on the other, adorned with an acorn pewter lid. It was the perfect find. To this day, however, I've only used it for drinking tea. Is this sacrilege?

I was blown away by his collection to say the least. Stand-alone tankards and sets lined the entrance room consisting of two rows of floor-to-ceiling shelves. The record-holder sat at the head of a row, hard to miss. He even had several regimental steins from WWII soldiers complete with names. (Did you know soldiers were issued steins?) Steins of all shapes, colors, sizes and pictorials could entertain me for hours, especially since he had stories for so many. I had to stop asking about each one, I realized, if I was going to get any work done.

In the end, I shook hands and departed one of the best-kept secrets in central Virginia.

P.S. Did I mention I wanted to be Indiana Jones when I grew up?

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To Be Continued...

The Secret is Out

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