Athena Vineyards and Winery, located on Route 200 just
south of the Glebe Point Bridge, has just introduced two new wines. Safe
Harbor and Athena’s Lighthouse White are now available to taste
and to purchase.
After months of waiting, the labels have been approved, and the wine
has been bottled. Please stop by the tasting room or order online.
Both make wonderful gifts or keepsakes because of their distinctively
shaped bottles – a caravel ship and blue lighthouse.
– The two new wines –
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SAFE HARBOR (18% fortified red wine made in the Portuguese style) Because
of an agreement between the U.S. and the European Community made in 2006
and modified in 2007, anyone who did not have approval for semi-generic
wines such as port, sherry and Madeira, before 2007 cannot use these names
outside those European geographic regions. US wineries whose labels were
approved before 2007 can continue to use the port label, but newer ones
like ours cannot – hence the name Safe Harbor.
Safe Harbor is a fortified Chambourcin wine vinted as in Portugal, but
with a shorter barrel aging. The richness of the wine is complemented
by blue cheese, nuts, dark chocolate, dried fruit, and especially by English
Stilton cheese. This distinctive bottle is a type of caravel, a ship with
two or three masts used by Europeans beginning in the 15th Century for
long exploratory voyages. Caravels were used to bring the first English
settlers to Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. ($32.00)
ATHENA’S LIGHTHOUSE WHITE – This is a light, aromatic wine
made with Seyval Blanc and other white wine grapes, and comes in a beautiful
blue lighthouse shaped bottle. Its tartness is balanced with 1% residual
sugar, making it a good wine for sipping or paired with seafood and white
meats. Alcohol 12.5% by volume. ($20.00)
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