
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 17, 1995                   TAG: 9511170014
SECTION: HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE                    PAGE: HGG-20   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SARAH COX
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FOR UNIQUE GIFT IDEAS, LOOK NO FURTHER THAN VIRGINIA

Yes, holiday shoppers, there is a Virginia. And in that auspicious commonwealth, there are peanuts and peanut soup mix, wines, ginger ale and sparkling ciders, apples and pears, pastas and sauces, rubs and salsas and salad dressings.

For those seeking gift ideas that will delight and be devoured, seek no further: Virginia is your place. Marty Montano, vice-president of Montano's International Gourmet, will be the first to tell you that state items are a hot ticket in merchandising circles now.

"In my gourmet-specialty catalogs, there are products from all the states and regions,'' he said. Virginia carries an abundance of unusual products one would not normally associate with a mid-Atlantic state.

Take Carver's ginger-ale, made at the Northern Neck Bottling Company in Montross. It's been made there since 1926. Or Fuller's hot, sweet mustard, or the plethora of Thunder Bay sauces.

At Wertz's Country Store on the Roanoke City Market, a wide selection of sauces can be found. There, Thunder Bay's Brazilian Mustard Glaze vies for shelf room with a Mexabilly Salsa from Pulaski County, while across the room gleam blueberry, peach and strawberry syrups.

It's enough to make you grab a basket and start filling up. Montano and Wertz's owner Gary Crowder will do that for you, as they do for a number of private and corporate clients throughout the holidays. Both offer to mail the packages, as well. Crowder suggests making arrangements to select and ship by the second week in December, although he said that for the individual client, he can usually work them in with one or two days' notice. During the holiday season, UPS, he said, takes up to two weeks to deliver from coast to coast. If you can plan to work within those time constraints, the possibilities are endless.

Montano suggested that before shopping or placing your order, the holiday shopper should know something about the eating preferences of the gift recipient - for instance, if they don't drink alcoholic beverages, you might want to include Quibel sparkling water or the Carver's ginger-ale. Or you may want to do a theme basket, such as one for a picnic. This could include a bottle of Naked Mountain chardonnay, some dried apples and other fruits from L'Esprit de Campagne in the Shenandoah Valley (their selection includes dried cherries, blueberries, cranberries, and tomatoes), and a jar of local jam or jelly.

Or, you could send one of the hams Crowder carries from either eastern and western Virginia, plus a country ham pate. Food packages can range widely in price, as well, so know your spending limit.

Crowder said they have picked up a few new items this year that will add interest to anyone's made-in-Virginia box. Since Wertz's Country Store was originally a stand on the market used to sell the produce from the Wertz Cave Spring farm (three generations ago), the emphasis has always been on country products. Many of these products still carry the Wertz label, such as their specialty salad dressings (many are non-fat), and jams and jellies.

A package of parsley and garlic Pasta Valente pasta, a marinara sauce, a jar of sugar-free jam or some apple butter, a jar of summer tomato dressing, and a round of Monastery gouda cheese from the Trappestine Sisters in Crozet would represent Virginia quite well, thank you, to those who mistakenly think Virginia is for peanuts and hams.

by CNB