Drink Local: A MD & VA Wine Seminar & Tasting is a celebration of Maryland and Virginia's viticulture and cheesemaking. The event will feature three Maryland (Black Ankle, Serpent Ridge and Bordeleau Winery) and three Virginia (Barboursville, Chrysalis and Michael Chaps) wineries, with each one bringing one red and one white wine to pour.

At 6:30PM, there will be a 45 minute educational seminar on terroir in the two states called Understanding the Virginia and Maryland Wine Terroirs with Tony Wolf, Virginia state viticulturalist, and Kevin Atticks, head of the Maryland Wineries Association. At 7:30PM, a second educational seminar entitled The Politics of Wine in Maryland and Virginia will take place to discuss the politics of wine in VA & MD with Terri Colfer Beirne, the former lobbyist for the VA wineries, and Adam Borden, Executive Director of Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws, representing the MD situation. In addition to the wineries, several MD and VA cheesemakers (Firefly, Everona and Chapel's Creamery) will have their products available for tasting. Mixed hors d'ouevres will also be available.

The event takes place at Whittemore House (Dupont Circle, red line) in Washington, DC from 6-9PM and costs $49, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit legalizing direct wine shipping in Maryland. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.giramondow...