Imagine my luck…I was asked to cover the 6th Annual Washington, D.C. International Wine & Food Festival on March 12 & 13. (Work, work, work)

The new DC convention center is gorgeous and well worth the wait. It's a colossal 2.3 million square foot facility with staff that worked like well-oiled machines. I, along with my epicurean husband, Middleburg Eccentric's Behind the Stove writer, got in line to grab our attendee badges, were handed two substantial wine glasses emblazed with the bold, blue Viking logo, the high-end stove maker and show's largest sponsor.

We hit the show floor running and plowed through like seasoned troopers.

We cased the perimeter and sampled some light food samples, watched the celebrity chef demonstrations and then worked our way into the heart of the matter where the serious games began – the ultimate in global wine tasting. Two hundred and forty wineries were on display.

International wines were generously poured from Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Portugal & Greece, Chile, Argentina, Australia, South Africa and domestic wines from California and Virginia. For a good resource for more information on any of these countries/regions, you may visit www.wineloverspage.com.

Like a gastronomy show I once attended in Paris, these wineries were extremely proud and excited to showcase their wares. They eagerly pulled out maps so we could grasp which region they were from, pulled out pictures of their wineries and showed us awards they had garnered.

And their pour was generous – not the kind one has experienced at a Virginia wine festival (sorry if I offend anyone but I'm sure we'd all agree that one needs enough of a taste to swirl the grape juice around in our mouths).

For those that wanted to try a lot of wines and still be able to walk and talk, buckets were provided on the tables as a means of disposal.

White tablecloths correctly adorned the tasting tables so that the wine's color, body and legs could be easily evidenced.

One negative: The show is advertised as a "Food & Wine" show for the $72 entry fee and I truly was anticipating an amuse bouche or two at the celebrity chef demonstrations from the likes of Café Atlantico, Zola, Olives, Charlie Palmer Steak House, Red Sage, Marcel's and Brasserie Les Halles to name a few. All that was offered at the show were the usual suspects for wine pairing – domestic cheeses, artisan breads and olive oils. (Heavy sigh)

Non-wine vendors included exclusive international hotels and resorts, chauffeured wine tours, European and Caribbean departments of tourism, wine tasting instruction for private parties, culinary cooking classes, various wine and food magazines, fine cutlery, and high-end home appliances.

Virginia wineries had a nice presence at the show. Some of these included Chateau Morrisette, First Colony, Horton, Ingelside Winery, Jefferson Vineyards, King Family, Kluge Winery, Lake Anna, Oasis Vineyards, Tarara, White Hall, Williamsburg Vineyard and Windham Winery.

Found roaming the hall, checking out the competition and generally having a good time was Jennifer McCloud, owner and winemaker for Chrysalis Winery, Middleburg. We tagged along, swapped favorites and had a great time catching up. She really knows her stuff!

It seems to me there's been a lot of new chatter about Norton, a native Virginia varietal that was a very popular grape in the 18th century. Norton thrives in the mid-Atlantic and produces a robust red wine with big fruit flavors that ages beautifully over the years. Some Virginia wineries that are committed to restoring the vine to its original place of prominence are Chrysalis Winery, Middleburg; Horton Vineyards, Gordonsville; and Veramar Vineyard, Berryville.

As a matter of fact, at the time of this writing, Veramar Vineyard was just awarded a Silver Medal for its Norton at the 2005 Dallas Morning News Wine Competition, the largest U.S. commercial wine competition outside of California.

Virginia's wine industry has flourished in recent years. In 1979, only six wineries operated in the state and they weren't known for producing quality wines. Today, over 100 wineries exist making Virginia the fifth largest wine producer in the country yielding vintages that can stand beside those from international wine regions.

Lastly, the thing I took away from the show (in addition to a killer shopping list) was the sense of pride each vintner had – pride of their product and pride of their country. It was exhilarating to feel their enthusiasm. Each winery took their time with each attendee and made them feel most welcome. Similar to experiencing a European meal…unhurried with the enjoyment of being 'in the moment' with the people you enjoy.

This year we made it our goal to sample red wines only – mostly full-bodied blends – so that our taste buds could stay focused; punctuated by intermittent stops at the cheese and bread tables to cleanse our palates, of course.

[Debi's Best of Show: Reds list follows]