Virginia Wines Win Again!

VA Wines Earn 6 Gold Medals at San Francisco Wine Competition

Posted: Sep 04, 2013 6:07 PM EDTUpdated: Sep 04, 2013 6:07 PM EDT

Virginia Wine
Press Release

Richmond, Va. (Sept. 4, 2013) - Three Virginia wineries, Barboursville Vineyards, Trump Winery, and Narmada Winery, took home a total of six gold medals at the 2013 San Francisco International Wine Competition.

Barboursville Vineyards received two gold medals (2010 Premium Bourdeaux Blend and 2011 Cabernet Franc) and one bronze medal (2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve). Trump Winery received two gold medals (2012 Viognier and 2008 Blanc de Blanc Brut) and a silver medal (2008 Premium Borudeax Blend). Narmada Winery received two gold medals (2011 Viognier and 2010 Chambourcin, Reflection).  In all, Virginia wines earned 43 medals: six gold, 14 silver and 23 bronze.  In addition to Barboursville and Trump, Keswick and Stinson earned medals, for a total of four Central Virginia Wineries earning 13 medals at the renowned competition (see notes in blue font below).

"In the last year or two I have been extremely impressed with the huge advances in quality being made by Virginiawines. In my own tastings and at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, wines from Virginia have been consistently among the best. In blind tastings, as evidenced by the stellar showing of [newcomer] Narmada and [well-established] Barboursville, the best wines compare favorably with the best of California and other western regions," said competition organizer and leading wine critic Anthony Dias Blue.

The San Francisco International Wine Competition is the largest and most respected international competition in the United States. Celebrating its 33rd year, the 2013 Competition was held at the distinguished Hotel Nikko in the heart of downtown San Francisco on June 14,15, and 16. 4539 wines were judged this year from 29 states and 30 countries by 52 of the wine industry's best palates.

The rapid growth of Virginia's vibrant wine industry has made it one of the fastest growing agricultural sectors in the state.  In 1979, there were only six wineries in Virginia. Today, there are over 380 vineyards that cultivate over 3,000 acres of grapes and over 200 wineries in Virginia.  The state's wine industry's growth is escalating as fast as the state's advancements in wine quality and reputation.  For a complete list of winners and further information about events, tours and tastings, please visit the Virginia Wine Marketing Office's website athttp://www.virginiawine.org/ or call 1‐804‐344‐8200.

2013 San Francisco International Wine Competition

Virginia Wines Sorted by Winery 

MEDAL	STATE	WINERY	YEAR	VAR
Silver	VA	Annefield Vineyareds	2012	Viognier
Bronze	VA	Annefield Vineyareds	2010	Cabernet Franc
Gold	VA	Barboursville Vineyards	2010	Premium BordeauxBlend
Gold	VA	Barboursville Vineyards	2011	Cabernet Franc
Bronze	VA	Barboursville Vineyards	2010	Cabernet Sauvignon
Silver	VA	Breaux Vineyards	2007	Nebbiolo
Bronze	VA	Breaux Vineyards	2012	Sauvignon Blanc
Bronze	VA	Breaux Vineyards	2012	Viognier
Bronze	VA	Breaux Vineyards	2012	Chardonnay
Bronze	VA	Château Morrisette	2011	Chardonnay
Bronze	VA	Château Morrisette	2011	Merlot
Bronze	VA	Crushed Cellars	2010	Chardonnay
Bronze	VA	Crushed Cellars	2009	Red Bordeaux Blend
Bronze	VA	Crushed Cellars	2008	Merlot
Bronze	VA	Crushed Cellars	2008	Cabernet Franc
Silver	VA	Gray Ghost Vineyards	2011	Chardonnay
Bronze	VA	Gray Ghost Vineyards	2012	Vidal Blanc
Bronze	VA	Gray Ghost Vineyards	2012	Late Harvest Vidal Blanc
Bronze	VA	Gray Ghost Vineyards	2012	Seyval Blanc
Silver	VA	Ingleside Vineyards	NV	October Harvest
Bronze	VA	Ingleside Vineyards	2007	Petit Verdot
Bronze	VA	Ingleside Vineyards	2009	Petit Verdot
Silver	VA	Keswick Vineyards	2010	Cabernet Sauvignon
Silver	VA	Keswick Vineyards	2012	Viognier
Bronze	VA	Keswick Vineyards	2012	Viognier
Bronze	VA	Keswick Vineyards	2012	White Blend
Silver	VA	Lost Creek Vineyard and Winery	2011	Cabernet Franc
Bronze	VA	Lost Creek Vineyard and Winery	2012	Chardonnay
Gold	VA	Narmada Winery	2011	Viognier
Gold	VA	Narmada Winery	2010	Chambourcin
Silver	VA	Paradise Springs of Clifton	2012	Viognier
Bronze	VA	Paradise Springs of Clifton	2012	Petit Manseng
Silver	VA	Philip Carter Winery	2012	Viognier
Silver	VA	Philip Carter Winery	2012	Vidal Blanc
Silver	VA	Philip Carter Winery	NV	Port 1762
Silver	VA	Rosemont of Virginia Winery	2010	Premium Bordeaux Blend
Bronze	VA	Rosemont of Virginia Winery	2010	Cabernet Franc
Silver	VA	Stinson	2011	Chardonnay
Bronze	VA	Stinson	2012	Sauvignon Blanc
Bronze	VA	Stinson	2010	Meritage
Gold	VA	Trump Winery	2012	Viognier
Gold	VA	Trump Winery	2008	Blanc de Blancs
Silver	VA	Trump Winery	2008	Premium BordeauxBlend

50 Best Southern Bars - and One of Them is a Virginia Winery!

From Garden and Gun Magazine:

Booze with a View

Pollak Vineyards in Greenwood, Virginia
Set at the base of Afton Mountain in the Blue Ridge, this rustic wood-and-tile wine bar lets you sit out at long tables on the lovely lawn or the ample wraparound porch, overlooking the vines and orchards of the ninety-eight-acre property. Spring, summer, or fall, the overall effect is peaceful and gorgeous. pollakvineyards.com

Cool!!

Amherst County Winemaker Brings Regional Flare to Wines

From the News & Advance:

Posted: Monday, August 5, 2013 5:14 pm | Updated: 5:20 pm, Mon Aug 5, 2013.

Brent Wells

The image some have of a winemaker is a person who sits around all day sipping various types of vino from different casks until inspiration, or a headache, strikes.

But those who know a bit about enology understand winemaking is far more than romance, history and artistry. A skilled vinter must be a chemist and microbiologist with a working knowledge of physics, botany, geology, meteorology, plant physiology and, even, etymology — defined as the origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning.

After all, it takes a certain level of expertise to decipher the complexities of a Cabernet Franc (Ka-behr-nay Frahng), a Chenin Blanc (Shen-in Blahnk) or a Pouilly-Fuissé (Pwee Fwee-say).

That's why Cliff Ambers, who owns Chateau Z Vineyard in Amherst County, hopes to demystify the elite atmosphere surrounding the industry while grooming the next generation of local oenophiles.

"There were writers in the '40s, Shoemaker and Marvel, who had a whole chapter in their book on American wine about wine hokum," Ambers said. "That's all it is. It's nonsense that surrounds wine to in-still the mystique of rarity and exclusivity.

"But Lynchburg is a working-class, blue-collar town. And most people here want something that's a little bit sweet. They don't drink dry Chardonnay and Cabernet. They don't buy Bordeaux wine."

With that in mind, Ambers began fine-tuning his craft several years ago and put together a collection showcasing what he considers to be Chateau Z's unique approach to flavor, as well as its particular method of naming the wines after things identifiable to the area.

There's the Vixon Gris, a semi-sweet white suitable for sipping that can be paired with dessert and was inspired by Sweet Briar College's mascot; the Lynchburger, a red that needs no introduction and is compa-rable to a Merlot; and Skippy's Nectar, a white blend that gets its title from grass skippers that frequent the flowers outside the doors of Chateau Z's cellar.

Wine educators say a vinter must make some 200 decisions on each batch of his or her bounty before the cork is finally, with a loud ga-chunk, plunked into the neck of the bottle.

Ambers, who was reared on an 80-acre family farm in rural Ohio, has been training to make those choices for a while. Interested in agriculture and, specifically, the growing of grapes his whole life, the 50-year-old winemaker remembers how his father's grapevines sparked an early fascination with the fruit.

"I saw them growing wild, and I could go out there in the fall, and there was candy," he said with a sense of enthusiasm in his voice. "Grapes are candy, and that's what they've been in America since the beginning. Before cane sugar and manufactured candies, there were grapes."

After high school, he received a bachelor's degree in geology at Ashland University, before earning his doctorate, also in geology, from Indiana University in Bloomington, where he worked as an assistant wine-maker for two years with Oliver Winery, now one of the largest wineries in the eastern United States.

He married his wife, Rebecca, who also has a doctorate in geology, in 1994, and they moved to Central Virginia more than a decade ago, so she could take a position at Sweet Briar College as an associate profes-sor in environmental science.

The couple soon bought a farmhouse built in the late-1800s, which sits in a broad valley on the eastern side of Tobacco Row Mountain in central Amherst County.

There, Ambers rediscovered his passion for grapes, something his friend and fellow fruit enthusiast Tom Burford, who some refer to as “Professor Apple,” can relate to.

“He certainly unleashes his interest in the grape,” Burford said. “That is what makes him distinctive and apart from many who are involved with grapes. He brings creativity to the science.”

Ambers not only cultivates the horticultural crop for his wine, but he is an avid breeder and supporter of the Norton strand of grapes, which have long been thought of as the best native red hybrid variety for winemaking in the East.

They were introduced by Dr. Daniel Norborne Norton, who, in addition to his medical practice, had a 27-acre property called Magnolia Farm, northwest of Richmond. One of his ambitions was to produce a hardy, disease-resistant grape that would make a soft, drinkable, European-style wine.

Ambers shares that same perspective.

“These grapes make wine that’s quite good, if you are willing to let your mind free of the chains and binds of modern-wine snobbery, hokum,” he said. “If you’re willing to venture out, there are flavors and aromas beyond that very narrow range.”

Jennifer McCloud, proprietress of Chrysalis Vineyards in Northern Virginia, considers Ambers a cutting-edge hybridist whose work mirrors the grape breeding of other horticulturists from the 1800s, like T.V. Munson and Norton.

“It’s pretty amazing,” she said. “I’ve been impressed to no end. Credit needs to go to him for his indefatigable effort to recover and protect the genetic diversity of our native grape species.”

For more information, visit www.chateau-z.com

Contact Brent Wells at (434) 385-5489 or bwells@newsadvance.com.​

Central Virginia Named One of America's Top 10 Wine Regions!

From Charlottesville's, The Daily Progress:

Central Virginia is one of America’s 10 best up-and-coming wine regions, according to nerdtravel.com, a consumer advocacy website.

For inclusion in the ranking, the site considered regions with “unique varietals, stunning views and boutique wineries that have distinctive features.”

The website defines the Central Virginia region as stretching from the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, east to Richmond and south to Lynchburg.

“Central Virginia has a long winemaking history, dating back to Thomas Jefferson’s two vineyards at Monticello. Now, Virginia is seeing the birth of its wine industry in the production of single-bottled varieties like Viognier, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot,” the site says.

Other areas mentioned in the report include the Finger Lakes region in New York; Idaho’s Snake River Valley; and the Yakima Valley in Washington state.

Awesome!!

Fourth of July in Virginia Wine Country

     What did you do for the Fourth of July?  I have to say that we spent an amazingly fun day along Virginia's Route 151 visiting some of Virginia's best wineries, breweries, and even throwing in a cidery.  What a great day!
     Heading out, we started at Wintergreen Winery, which was set up for the holiday celebration.  For $10, we each received a stemless, Wintergreen Winery glass, the tasting to go along with it, and access to the musical entertainment that they were having that day.  The rain coming and going early in the day just made it that much more of an adventure.
     As always, the tasting was just pure fun.  Unlike some of the more pretentious wineries that are out there, Wintergreen Winery is just down-home and real.  Without all of the froo-froo, you come into a smaller, rustic tasting room with a little, side shop with a few tables.  Is it worth the visit?  Absolutely!  The wines are wonderful, and the Thomas Nelson White is fantastic for a summer afternoon and is always a favorite around festival time.  It's common for this wine to sell out.  And if you enjoy something along the dessert side, you have to go for their raspberry, fruit wine to pair with a little, dark chocolate.  That one is always a big hit.

     After sharing a bottle of Wintergreen's Viognier, which is now sold out online, we headed north on 151 and quickly veered into Bold Rock Cidery.  Part of the fun here is that the tastings are free, and they were being done in their apple barn.  What a great setting for tasting ciders, which ranged from the ciders that you can find on tap or in the bottle in our favorite pubs and restaurants around the commonwealth to the premium ciders that resemble wines more than they do the fizzy ciders that we've come to love in Virginia.  It was a wonderful time, with our tasting being led by Robin Washburn, wife of Bold Rock founder John Washburn.  She was really a lot of fun, and we had a great time listening to her talk about their history while also telling us about the ciders and their successes.  Today, it was announced that Bold Rock would be undergoing a $4 million expansion.  Awesome!
                    Bold Rock Cidery begins work on $4 million expansion
                               
     From Bold Rock, we headed north again on 151 and dropped in at Veritas Winery in Afton.  One of the most beautiful, tasting rooms in the commonwealth, Veritas is never a disappointment when it comes to wines.  I hadn't intended to, but I ended up joining their wine club, which automatically gave me my first shipment.  So for $62.65, we enjoyed two tastings and then walked out onto the terrace to enjoy one of the three bottles that came in the shipment, while taking in the amazing view.  Also, club members receive 20% off of all purchases AND free admissions for two to their Starry Nights events.  Win-win!!
     Now, some day I want to go and stay at The Veritas Farmhouse.  I've checked out the website so many times, but I still can't choose which room in which I would like to stay.  They're all beautiful; but if I really had to pick, I think I'd go for the Nottingham Suite.

     Now as if all of that wasn't enough fun, it was time to head back out to get something to eat.  So, we chose to make our way on over to Blue Mountain Brewery, which was packed for the Fourth.  And, why wouldn't they be?  In addition to the awesome microbrews, their food is amazing.  As much as I haven't had a thing there that I didn't love, my favorite is their pizza.  Whichever one you choose, you can't go wrong.  Their pizza is some of the best that I've ever had, and I've even been to Italy.  

     To add even more to the fun, not only was it the Fourth of July, it was also Steal the Glass night!  It was so crowded that night that we couldn't get a table right away, so we had a blast hanging out with people who we had never met and playing cornhole with them.  Mind you, all of this was also while enjoying the brews.  So much fun to be out on the lawn, playing cornhole with new "friends," and having the waitress still bring us our drinks.  We really did have a great time.

     Be prepared though.  Steal the Glass nights (the first Thursday of each month) are always packed.  Get there early and stake out your table.  It's well worth it!

     And in attempting to bring the day, which was now night, to a close, we headed back toward Lynchburg, hoping to stop in at Devil's Backbone Brewpub, truly looking forward to their smoked meats.  They're absolutely wonderful!  But alas by the time that we got there, they were already closing down for the night.  So, there's not much to share there.  :(  I guess we'll have to save that for another visit.  :)

     Instead, we ended up checking out Thai Mex 2 Restaurant in Nellysford.  Yes, that's right.  Thai...Mex...  I've laughed every time that I've ever driven by there.  What a combination of cuisines, but I have to say that we had a great time there.  We sat at the bar and had a rough time choosing what to get; and even though I was actually leaning toward getting breakfast food (yes, they have that, too), I ended up with the chili dog. (The menu just kept going...)  It was the perfect stop for the-end-of-the-evening food bender.  We had a great time, and the guy running the place was awesome.

     Wow, we really are blessed in Virginia!!  Make mine Virginia wine...and beer...and cider!!

Sunday Sampling - at Home

     Intending to get bunches of work done on a Sunday afternoon, I somehow ended up "pretending" to be in Italy.  After enjoying a nice brunch in Lynchburg with my daughter, I decided to spend a little, extra time enjoying wine on the restaurant terrace and walking home, instead of the short drive.  After all, it seems that everyone walks in Italy - and also enjoys the fruits of their wine territories.

     Upon arriving home, I decided to extend my afternoon of wine in Virginia's own, wine territory.  I finished what was left of my bottle of Keswick Vineyards' 2012 Les Vents d'Anges Viognier, which was a tribute to the owner's sister who had passed away years ago.  A little sweet, it was the perfect wine after a hot walk home.  Yummy.  

     And since I only had one glass of the Les Vents d'Anges left, I decided to go ahead and open my new bottle of Blenheim Vineyards' 2012 Viognier, which was crisp and wonderful for sipping throughout the evening.  Blenheim Vineyards is located outside of Charlottesville, beyond Monticello and Ashlawn-Highland, and was founded and owned by Dave Matthews.  The spectacular view makes it well worth the visit.

     I get excited every time that I think about how lucky we are in Virginia to have an ever-growing wine industry!

Keswick Vineyards' 2012 Les Vents d'Anges

Blenheim Vineyards' 2012 Viognier

A Growing Love for Virginia Wines

Wow, have we come a long way in Virginia since Thomas Jefferson's first attempts at cultivating his grapes!  There's so much to celebrate in Virginia wines.