{"id":16706,"date":"2019-05-28T11:11:15","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T16:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/winetrailtraveler.com\/blog\/?p=16706"},"modified":"2019-05-28T11:11:15","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T16:11:15","slug":"2019-virginia-governors-cup-wine-seminar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/winetrailtraveler.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/28\/2019-virginia-governors-cup-wine-seminar\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 Virginia Governor\u2019s Cup Wine Seminar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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2019 Virginia Governor’s Cup Case Seminar<\/p><\/div>\n

Last week we traveled to southwestern Virginia to attend the 2019 Governor\u2019s Cup Wine seminar. The featured event included the top 12 winning wines chosen from some of the larger Virginia wine producers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our travel plans included visiting four boutique wineries in the region. This included Whitebarrel Winery which was also the location of the satellite wine seminar. We also visited Spinning Jenny Vineyard which recently opened in the spring of 2019. Next we stopped at The New River Vineyard and Winery, another small winery that offers a large deck for enjoying a glass of wine. On Monday we enjoyed a personalized wine tasting at JBR Vineyards. The last winery to visit was Whitebarrel Winery where we arrived early to interview the owners before the seminar was to start. Next month we will post online articles about each of these boutique Virginia wineries.<\/p>\n

The Virginia Governor\u2019s Cup Competition<\/b><\/p>\n

The process includes 18 judges. The event takes place for 10 days. Seven judges taste each wine. While judging the wines, the judges knew the grape or wine category. However, they did not have knowledge of the winery producing the wine or the vintage of the wine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Virginian Wines<\/a> website regarding the final round, \u201cOver the course of 3 days, 12 judges assess the highest ranking wines from the preliminary round. Unlike the preliminary round, each judge samples all of the Final Round wines.<\/p>\n

Each wine in the Final Round receives a final average score after lowest is dropped. The 12 wines with the highest average score are identified as the “Governor’s Cup Case.”<\/p>\n

The wine with the highest overall score is the Governor’s Cup Winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rating Scale<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The scale for the wine judging:<\/p>\n

Gold – Outstanding\/Classic 90 -100 points
\nSilver – Very Good 85 – 89 points
\nBronze – Good 80 – 84 points<\/p>\n

Statistics<\/i><\/p>\n

For the 2019 Competition there were 510 entries with 133 entries making it to the final round.\u00a0Gold medals were awarded to 68 entries; silver medals to 327 entries; bronze medals to 108 entries.<\/p>\n

It is interesting to note that Gold medals were awarded to different Virginia wine regions as follows.<\/p>\n

Blue Ridge: 1 Gold
\nCentral Va: 40 Gold
\nEastern Va: 4 Gold
\nNorthern Va: 19 Gold
\nShenandoah Valley: 3 Gold
\nSouthern Va: 1 Gold<\/p>\n

It is interesting to contemplate the reasons that might apply to the disparity between the regions. Is it due to the number of wineries in the region, the size of the wineries, the terroir of the regions or the age of the vineyards???<\/p>\n

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The twelve wines tasted in order of the tasting.<\/p><\/div>\n

The 12 best Virginia wines in the competition were chosen as the 2019 Virginia Governor\u2019s cup Case Winners. Below is the list of the Case winners and our wine notes about each one we tasted during the seminar.<\/p>\n

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  • Barboursville 2017 Vermentino Reserve
    \n<\/span><\/strong><\/em>Light yellow color
    \nAroma of citrus and flowers
    \nSmooth mouthfeel with notes of citrus, honeysuckle
    \nMedium\/full bodied
    \nFinish was crisp with some mineral on the after taste
    \nPrice: $22.99<\/li>\n
  • 2016 Hamlet Vineyards Eltham
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Blend of Merlot and Petit Verdot
    \nColor:\u00a0 Translucent ruby with a very light ruby rim
    \nAroma: Black fruits
    \nTaste: Black berries, black cherries and leather
    \nMedium-full body, medium tannins
    \nFinish: Fruity with a bit of oak
    \nPrice: $26<\/li>\n
  • 2014 Upper Shirley Zachariah
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Color: Opaque dark ruby with a ruby rim
    \nAroma: Black fruits
    \nTaste: Blackberries, blueberries, some leather and licorice
    \nFull-bodied, bold tannins
    \nFinish: Fruity with minimum oak
    \nPrice: $50<\/li>\n
  • Glen Manor Vineyards 2015 Cabernet Franc
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Color: Opaque dark ruby with sienna hue
    \nAroma Black fruits
    \nTaste: Blackberries. Leather
    \nMouthfeel: silky
    \nFull bodied, Medium\/bold tannins
    \nFinish: fruity with slight oak
    \nPrice: $35<\/li>\n
  • Early Mountain Vineyards 2016 Eluvium
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Blend of Merlot and Petit Verdot
    \nColor: Translucent dark ruby color with a dark pink hue
    \nAroma: Black fruits
    \nTaste: Blackberries, black plums, black cherries, leather
    \nFull bodied, Bold tannins
    \nFinish: fruity with a hint of oak
    \nPrice: $38<\/li>\n
  • Paradise Springs Winery 2015 Meritage
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Blend of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc
    \nColor: Translucent ruby
    \nAroma: Black fruits
    \nTaste: Black berry, blueberry, black cherry, leather
    \nMouthfeel: Velvety
    \nFull bodied, bold to medium tannins
    \nFinish: fruity
    \nPrice: $49<\/li>\n
  • King Family Vineyards 2016 Meritage
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Blend of Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec
    \nColor: Translucent dark ruby with a pink rim
    \nAroma: Light aroma of black fruits
    \nTaste: Leather, blackberries, perceived sweetness, plum, black cherry
    \nFull bodied, bold tannins
    \nFinish Fruit forward with mild oak influence
    \nPrice: $39.95<\/li>\n
  • Michael Shaps 2015 Tannat
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Color: Opaque dark purple to black color with a ruby rim
    \nAroma: Black fruits
    \nTaste: Black berries, black cherries, leather, blueberries
    \nFull bodied, very bold tannins
    \nMouthfeel: Silky
    \nFinish: Fruit forward<\/li>\n
  • King Family Vineyards 2016 Mountain Plains
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
    \nColor: Translucent dark ruby
    \nAroma: Black fruits
    \nTaste: Jammy blackberries, blueberries, black cherries, perceived sweetness
    \nFull bodied, medium to bold tannins
    \nMouthfeel: Silky
    \nFinish: Fruit forward with minimum oak
    \nPrice: $69.95<\/li>\n
  • 2016 Michael Shaps Petit Manseng
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Color: Dark yellow
    \nAroma: tropical fruits and some oak
    \nTaste: Pineapple, mango, some citrus
    \nFull bodied
    \nMouthfeel: Velvety
    \nFinish: fruity
    \nPrice: $32<\/li>\n
  • Horton Vineyards 2016 Petit Manseng<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong> <\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Winner of the Governor\u2019s Cup 2019
    \n<\/b>Blend: Petit Manseng, Early Pick Viognier, Rkatsiteli
    \nColor:\u00a0 Yellow
    \nAroma: Tropical fruits and flowers
    \nTaste: Pineapple, melon, citrus, mineral
    \nFull bodied
    \nMouthfeel: Silky
    \nFinish: Fruity with different layers at different times. Fruit yields to mineral on the long aftertaste
    \nPrice: $25<\/li>\n
  • 2016 Michael Shaps 2016 Raisin d\u2019Etre White
    \n<\/strong><\/em>Blend of Petit Manseng and Roussanne
    \nColor: Gold
    \nAroma: Sweet jammy fruits
    \nTaste: Sugar, pineapple, jammy apricot jam
    \nMouthfeel: Very velvety
    \nFinish Very fruity, jammy – Delicious
    \nPrice: $25<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    According to one winemaker and winery owner we met, one of the qualifications for entry into the 2019 Virginia Governor\u2019s Cup Wine Competition was to have 50 cases of the wine with 10 cases submitted to the competition and another 40 cases available for sale. For many boutique wineries that make delicious but small quantities of wine this requirement automatically excludes them from entering wines. Should the Virginia wine industry also offer a wine competition for small wine producing wineries? Maybe so.<\/p>\n

    Cheers!
    \nKathy and Terry<\/p>\n