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Carl DiManno, president and winemaker at 868 Vineyards, accepts the Governor's Cup.
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Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Bettina Ring says, “With two dessert wines in the Governor’s Cup case alongside creative blends with grapes such as Tannat, it is clear that 2020 is another unique year for Virginia wine.”
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Winemakers and founders from the 12 wineries featured in the Governor's Cup Case
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Michael Shaps Wineworks in Charlottesville took home the most gold medals this year.
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Rockbridge Vineyard in Raphine took home a gold medal for its 2017 VD’OR.
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A cheese display at the event
“I think the wines here are the best on the East Coast,” Bartholomew Broadbent says matter-of-factly in regard to judging the 38th Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition, one of the most rigorous such contests in the country.
The wine expert and CEO of Broadbent Selections has been a judge in the annual competition for over a decade. This year marks the first time he awarded a wine a perfect score of 100. It also marks the first time a Governor’s Cup winner was made entirely from Loudoun County fruit.
On Feb. 25 at Main Street Station, 868 Estate Vineyards took home the Governor’s Cup for its 2017 Vidal Blanc Passito from winemaker Carl DiManno, showcasing the unique terroir in the state and its flourishing wine scene.
But how did the winning wine get chosen from a class of over 500?
In late January and early February, a group of 19 esteemed wine connoisseurs gathered in Washington, D.C., tasked with tasting hundreds of wines from across the commonwealth. What sounds like a wine lover's dream and an opportunity to relish a huge variety of vintages is actually a daunting and dedicated task, with minimal talking, endless flights of wines, plenty of spitting into cups and some very grape-stained teeth.
“It’s not exactly fun,” Broadbent says, laughing. The UK native says his typical breakfast before competition judging consists of coffee and a banana. When asked if he avoids wine leading up to judging, he replies with more laughter, “No, a day without wine — [for that to happen] I’ve got to have the flu or something.”
The judging is broken into two rounds, the preliminary composed of seven judges who spend 10 days assessing wines and narrowing down contenders. The only requirement to enter the competition is that the wines must be made from 100% Virginia fruit.
The final round, in which Broadbent participates, features a dozen judges, from Washington Post wine columnist Dave McIntyre to Clyde's Restaurant Group Beverage Director Maria Denton, and takes place over a three-day span. Unlike the preliminary round, each judge will sample all of the wines that advanced this far.
Gathering at 9 a.m., the group arrives at the Capital Wine School, founded by Judging Director Jay Youmans, one of just 51 masters of wine in the U.S. and the only one in D.C. Youmans took over the cup nine years ago, and since then, Broadbent says, the event has reached a new level of professionalism and is now the only one in which he serves as a judge.
Similar to students, the judges will spend the entire day in a classroom, breaking only for lunch. White tablecloth-topped tables form a U shape, with pens and scoring sheets nearby. Doug Zerbst, a wine wholesaler in the commonwealth and eight-year Cup judge, describes the setting as controlled and the process as rigorous.
“The judges can’t even hear whether it’s a cork or screw top,” he says of the blind tasting. “When Jay puts down that judging sheet on Monday morning and those wines are in front of you, they know what to do. All the people in this group, and the last group especially, everyone is a pro.”
Typically, judges start with something lighter like a viognier or a cider — a new addition in recent years that is judged but not part of the actual competition. Zerbst says it’s important not to drink varietals back to back in order to prevent the palate from becoming “fatigued."
Arriving in flights, certain wines such as vermentino may consist of just three samples, while more common grapes such as cabernet franc or merlot could have upwards of 10. Judges say it takes an average of 15 minutes per flight, depending on its size.
When scoring, they provide tasting notes on appearance, aroma, flavor, overall quality and commercial sustainability. Broadbent says he evaluates step by step, examining appearance first.
“Color is so important in wine tastings, it reveals a lot,” he says, noting that the color of the wine provides clear indications of its quality and age.
Flavor descriptors on the judging sheet range from stone fruit and honeysuckle to potting soil and chocolate, with blank spaces for judges to offer notes on balance and complexity as well as general scoring. Winemakers and owners receive the scoring sheets post-competition, and Zerbst says he makes thoughtful notes for that reason.
“I want to make sure that they understand why I gave their wines a particular score,” he says.
Wines are ranked on a 100-point scale, with gold medal-winning wines scoring a 90 or higher. Each year, the judges say they become more impressed with the wines Virginia is producing. The top 12 ranked wines are part of the Governor’s Cup Case that is sent to people in the industry from across the country, helping to showcase the commonwealth's vintages.
During a video played at the Governor’s Cup ceremony, five-time judge, wine consultant and author Steven Spurrier says he “found so much more confidence in the wines this year … with much more vineyard personality coming through.”
The Post's Dave McIntyre shared that he often found himself using the word “elegant” when judging, evidence of a “positive development” in the Virginia wine industry.
For many judges the Governor's Cup is the only time they see one another each year, a reunion of sorts for the cast of characters. They look forward to the annual event and enjoy a special dinner together, many bringing bottles of rare old vintages or weird and funky wines to share and sample with the group.
“It’s gratifying,” Broadbent says of the competition, sharing that each year there are a handful of wineries he has never heard of and that it helps him stay in tune with the state's wine industry. “I want Virginia to be known as the top-producing wine region on the East Coast. Almost every grape grown here excels.”
Wines in the Governor's Cup Case
Afton Mountain Vineyards, Tradition (2017)
Barboursville Vineyards, Octagon (2014)
Barboursville Vineyards, Vermentino Reserve (2018)
Delaplane Cellars, Williams Gap (2017)
Lake Anna Winery, Tannat (2017)
Michael Shaps Wineworks, Meritage (2016)
Pollak Vineyards, Cab Franc Reserve (2017)
Pollak Vineyards, Smuggler (2017)
Rockbridge Vineyard, VD’OR (2017)
Shenandoah Vineyards, Shenandoah Reserve Red (2017)
Virginia Cellars, Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyards Petit Verdot (2017)
By the numbers
300+: Wineries in the state
6: Virginia is the sixth-largest wine-producing region in the country.
3,800: Acres of grapes in the state
64: Gold-medal winners in the 2020 Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition
19: Judges for the Virginia Governor’s Cup
530: Number of wines tasted by the judges
Gold Cup Medal Winner Varietals: Blends 40.1%, Cabernet Franc 15.6%, Petit Verdot 7.8%, Petit Manseng 6.25%, Cabernet Sauvignon 6.25%, others 24%
2017: Vintage with the most gold-medal wins (42)
7: Gold medals received by Michael Shaps Wineworks, the most this year
