Lenn Thompson, of the New York Cork Report, and I rode down and back from New York City to Virginia to judge in the Virginia Governors Cup Wine Competition (preliminary Round). And as we drove, we gossiped and laughed and talked about the best wines and wineries of the east coast, and at length we talked about Virginia wine the most. And I dare say, we agreed on a great many things.
I want to take this time to thank organizer Frank Morgan, who invited me to participate. The competition was very well run, and was a pleasure to participate in. And I want to thank my fellow judges. It sounds like a lot of fun, but when you taste as many wines as we did over a three-day period, you grow a huge sense of appreciation of what service these folks are trying to perform. And of course, to Jen Breaux of Breaux Vineyards, who hosted the competition, and to their wonderful staff, and to the volunteers who kept the glasses and wines coming. It was a large group of people who made this competition happen.
I have judged at many different wine competitions, and I have rarely agreed with the wines that have been chosen the winners. It is the nature of such competitions – it is the compromise of a half loaf of bread. Secondly, the one thing you also know is that not all the wineries participate. Meanwhile, some wineries submit too few wines, while others submit to many. This is the nature of wine competitions.
Now, I also approach wine competitions from a fairly unique position, in that not only am I an editor and writer, but also a winemaker. That does not make me a superior judge in any way. There are those with better palates, more nuanced, and whom have greater recall of varietal characteristics. At the same time, I also know some of the tricks of the trade, and understand the nuances of fruit and the chemicals and techniques sometimes employed to make wine what they are.
It is important to note, I am a lover of Virginia wine, and I think some of the finest wines of the east coast are made in this great state.
And lastly, these are MY opinions – and as such, can be disregarded if you like.
Ok, here we go…..
Sparkling Wines - Like Lenn Thompson, I was intrigued by the sparkling wines of Virginia. Great fruit. Great acidity. Great complexity. Great balance. Wonderful. Impressive. I knew there were some good sparklers here, but I was really surprised by the quality and number!
Red Fruit – This is a positive note. Certain red grapes do well in this state. Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and many other red grapes mature beautifully in Virginia (and NJ and Maryland) deeper than anywhere else on the east coast. Cab Franc and Petit Verdot make a powerful duo, and so Virginia is set for many good red blends to be made around the state for generations to come. Again, that’s not to say other regions don’t produce good red fruit, but these wines from Virginia have the ripeness and reach such a maturity, to be able to produce wines that can compete around the world.
That said there were many impressive Cabernet Francs and Petit Verdots that I very much liked.
Rose’ – I have to say that we only tasted a handful of rose’s at my table (maybe two flights?), almost all were wonderful! Bight lively notes of Bing Cherry, and sour cherry, and fresh cut strawberries. Lovely, lovely wines, with zippy acidity.
Dessert Wines & Meads – There were a number of exceptional dessert wines, and my panel of judges was absolutely astonished with that small category known as mead (wine made from honey). There were many, many excellent examples of this small but vibrant category, that were quite impressive and memorable.
Acidity – While I have tasted some incredibly lovely white wines from Virginia, I was disappointed in a trend I see happening from Maryland to Virginia. Many winemakers and wineries are pursuing the brix as if they were chasing the sugar to the highest ends. As if only 24 to 26 brix made good wine on the east coast. The cost is the loss of acidity. The higher go the brix the faster drops the acidity. As a result, the wines seem to have lots of ripe (to sometimes over ripe) fruit, and have little to no acidity.
The result are white wines that lack zip on the finish, and therefore fall flat on the tongue. Again, this is not all, but I found a lot of it much more recently than was the case in the past. Especially with whites, I advise picking the fruit earlier rather than later, as the acids fall by the way side. I’m not suggesting that everything taste like Albarino, but I am saying that Sauvignon Blanc, Petit Manseng, and unoaked Chardonnays should all have a hint of acid at the back to help the fruit linger. Many, sadly did not. I was one of the biggest shocks of the competition. And this was not always so with Virginia wine.
Chardonnay – Reserve Chardonnay is one of the great pleasures in life. I tend to like both unoaked and oaked chardonnay. And some of my favorites to this day include reserve, barrel made chardonnays. Classic, barrel fermented chardonnay is an art form. Having the patience and time to stir the lees, and wait for that exact right moment when tropical notes on the nose, creaminess comes across the palate with buttery and vanilla overtones, and that end in a little lemon custard, is one of the great achievements in winemaking. And it is not easy. Now, teaming with the lack of acidity, there were waaay to many chardonnays that were over powered by too much oak. Not only could you not smell apple or pear or tropical notes, but seemingly all you could discern was the overwhelming power of new barrels. I have made this mistake myself, and it takes sometimes two or three vintages to get the oak game under control.
The combination of lack of acidity and the big oak statement made for an unbalanced wine in many cases. Of course, there were bright spots. But in the end, there were more of these over oaked, over ripe chardonnays than I suspected would be. The smell of oak, IMO, does not mean it’s a good Chardonnay. Many of the judges agreed with this assessment, in conversations after the flights were done.
Bordeaux Blends – I like blended wines. Even if one grape is dominant, the blending of grapes almost always makes for better wines. Virginia has the opportunity to make great blended red wines. However, at the competition, I found that the red fruits, the notes of deep cherry, raspberry, cassis, and other red fruits were again overpowered by oak in a large number of entries. Not all, but too many red blends again displayed so much oak that they had more in common with whiskey than with red wine. And again, many judges privately agreed.
I have been to vertical tastings, and other oak demonstrations. The use of oak, a subtle combination of new and older oak and possibly a barrel or two of unoaked, combined in one blended wine, can make a huge difference. In a nuanced wine, one is looking for that delicate balance of fruit and oak. New oak stands up well to West Coast Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, but East Coast reds require, IMO, a subtler approach. I not telling people how to make their wines, but it seems to me that there needs to be a softer oak statement in many Virginia red blends.
Dropping Lenn of at Penn Station, NYC
Conclusion - After all these notes, it’s important to note, the wines of Virginia are consistently getting better. As stated above, not all the wines of Virginia were submitted. Many of my favorite wineries made either limited submissions or none at all. But there were enough of those that did that shows the ultimate promise of the state. 10 years ago I would have said Virginia had tremendous potential. (I published Richard Leahy’s Jefferson’s Vines by Richard Leahy). Today, it is a competitive wine region producing exceptional wines.
After the competition, a number of the judges took the time on the last day to visit some local Virginia wineries, such as Breaux Vineyards and Wash Family Vineyards - and all were very pleased. We all lamented the fact that we just didn't have enough time to go tasting...even though everyone said they didn't want anymore wine. LOL.
In retrospect, through groans and sighs, we tasted a lot of wines, but had a ball. And like everyone else, I look forward to the final results.
And of course, I'll be going back down to Virginia to go tasting again.
Here's a link to The Cork Report for Lenn Thompson's notes: