This past week, the final tasting of the 2013 Governor’s Cup Wines was held in Charlottesville, VA.  It was a chance for people within the wine industry to taste the wines that were selected as the “best of the best” in 2013.  The next Governor’s Cup wines will be selected and presented at the end of February and they will begin their journey to tastings at various wineries throughout the state.  Events such as these are excellent opportunities for vintners, winery personnel, viticulture students, and others to ask questions and discuss, in more detail, the intricacies of creating such hallowed vintages.

For someone like me, it was a chance to see how these events are organized and have the opportunity to taste these wines without purchasing everything on my own.  Some of the wines were priced at almost $100/bottle, so this sort of event is really fun to attend.  While I didn’t attend the event on Thursday, a few of my coworkers were in attendance and shared their photos with me, so I could share them with you.

There were 11 wines (4 bottles of each) that were represented in the photos.  In  order, they were as follows:

1. 2008 Trump Winery – Sparkling Rose (not pictured, as they had to keep the bottles cold until the very last moment before pouring)
2. 2009 Pollak Vineyards – Cabernet Franc Reserve
3. 2009 Lovingston Winery – Josie’s Knoll Estate Reserve
4. 2010 King Family Vineyards – Meritage (Do you remember how to pronounce this word?  It does NOT rhyme with “garage”)
5. 2010 RdV Vineyards – Rendezvous
6. 2010 Philip Carter Winery – Cleve
7. 2010 Rappahannock Cellars – Meritage
8. 2010 Sunset Hills Vineyard – Mosaic
9. 2010 Potomac Point – Richland Reserve Heritage
10. 2010 Cooper Vineyards – Petit Verdot Reserve
11. 2010 RdV Vineyards – Lost Mountain
12. 2009 Barbousville Vineyards – Octagon 12th Edition

I had the pleasure of helping work a VWA event last spring and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  I remain excited about the wines that were chosen… they are wines that will mellow over time and continue to delight and surprise wine lovers as the wines are opened and savored.  For those in the industry, I do believe that the seminars throughout the spring are well worth any travel involved.  For the general public,  I would highly recommend any of these wines for personal purchase.  They are really great and worth the money (IMHO).

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