The competition was held last month but the gala was recently hosted over Zoom. The Shenandoah Cup competition was established last year with the top award going to Fishersville’s Barren Ridge Vineyards. This year, Phillips walked away with the Shenandoah Cup for the winery’s 2017 Petit Verdot, which he said is grown on some of the oldest vines on the property and was the first wine to be aged in Hungarian oak barrels.
Frank Morgan, a wine enthusiast who writes on the subject for various publications, organized this year’s competition and was emcee for the virtual gala. He said 36 wines entered the competition, but the greatest source of excitement was the range of submissions that shone through.
“I was most impressed by the diversity of varieties that showed well,” Morgan said. “There’s some seriously great wines being made in the region. I think it’s deserving of more recognition.”
Judges rated each submitted wine individually, and wines scoring over 90 points were ranked as gold. Gold medals were awarded to Bridgewater’s Bluestone Vineyard for its 2017 Oaked Chardonnay and 2015 Blue Ice, Mount Jackson’s Cave Ridge Vineyard for its 2015 Red Silk and 2017 Petit Verdot, Mount Crawford’s CrossKeys Vineyards for its 2017 Meritage, Woodstock’s Muse Vineyards for its 2016 Clio and Raphine’s Rockbridge Vineyard for its 2017 Tuscarora White.
Phillips said the key to great wine resides in the grapes.
“My approach is to bring in the best grapes we can, and as the winemaker, not to mess it up in the winemaking process,” he said. “If the grapes are good, we let nature take its course.”
The Shenandoah Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) sits between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Allegheny. SVWT President Stephanie Pence, of McGaheysville’s Brix & Columns Vineyards, said the qualities of wine coming from the Valley are exceptional.
“It’s fun to see the winemakers’ talent shining through in the final product that’s in the bottle,” she said. “We have limestone soil, cooler nights and decreased rainfall resulting in high-quality grapes and therefore resulting in high-quality wine.”
During the virtual gala, each gold-winning winemaker shared the unique story of their business and wines.
Bluestone Vineyard winemaker Lee Hartman said he’s taken careful measures to ensure the Oaked Chardonnay is of high quality out of love for his family.
“When you’re a winemaker and your mom’s favorite wine is Chardonnay, you put a lot of effort into it,” he said, adding that the Blue Ice has done well in tastings rooms since opening in 2011.
Shep Rouse, of Rockbridge Vineyard, is one of the longest standing winemakers in the Valley, having helped with the Virginia Governor’s Cup in 1988 and winning twice since opening in 1993. He said the soil, elevation, air drainage, slopes and high winds are nearly pristine conditions for winemaking.
Phillips said odd-numbered years have a history of better conditions and production for Virginia winemakers and Pence said she hopes new varieties such as Petit Manseng will rise in popularity in the coming year. Either way, Sally Cowal, of Muse Vineyards, said she’s tired of the Valley being an underrated wine-growing region and hopes next year brings more national acclaim to the growing region.
“It’s not good to be the best-kept secret in the world. I mean, that’s very nice, but I think we’re ready to move to the next step,” she said. “We need to get better-known for the quality of wines that we’re producing and to bring people out from the areas of the state and indeed of the nation that are more populated and have more of a wine-drinking culture than we do.”
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Daily News-Record.
November 28, 2020 at 09:04PM
https://ift.tt/33sAlHN
Chardonnay to Red Silk: Winemakers compete for best wines - Washington Post
https://ift.tt/31lUVcw
Wine
No comments:
Post a Comment