Things I Noticed Judging the Preliminary Round of the Virgnia Governor's Cup

Or: The Good, The Bad, The Flabby, and the Oaky

More or less my view for three days judging the Virginia Governor’s Cup preliminary round at Breaux Vineyards

I swore off judging wine competitions many years ago for reasons that I still mostly consider valid, but I’ve softened a bit on my stance over the years.

I made an exception for a friend who needed judges in the Hudson Valley once. Then I judged the New York Classic a couple of times before the New York Wine & Grape Foundation outsourced it to BTI to get inflated scores on everything — which worked out that way.

I remain dubious about the outcomes of any wine competition, but they — completely selfishly — afford me a great opportunity to taste a bunch of wine over a short period. Wines beyond what I’m already tasting regularly.

So, even though I hadn’t judged one since the last in-person, actual-judges New York Classic, I signed on to judge the preliminary round of the Virginia Governor’s Cup, because Frank Morgan, a friend who has been a blogger/writer like me for almost as long, was taking the program over and because he asked me to judge.

And because — again — I’d get to taste a bunch of wine — in my case, precisely 179 wines over two and a half days.

(Quick aside: Frank and the team did an incredible job re-conceptualizing the competition, keeping things organized, and keeping things moving. The team at Breaux Vineyards, which hosted the tasting, was also amazing)

The scene at Breau Vineyards, which hosted the tasting, on Day 1. By Day 3, the vineyards were covered in snow.

Before I get into some of my observations, a few caveats are in order:

• The tastings were completely blind other than judges knowing the category for each flight (maximum of six wines per flight). I still have no idea what any of the individual wines were and won’t until the winners are announced later this year.

• I tasted 179 wines, which was roughly a quarter of all of the wines submitted. I obviously can’t comment on the wines I didn’t taste.

• This was the preliminary round. The folks judging the final round will have a far different experience than I did because I, with the other two dozen judges, made sure only the best stuff got through. At least that’s the idea. I can only speak for myself but I was very stingy with my scores. These things should highlight only the very best, right?

• Like every other competition I’ve ever been a part of, not every top winery submits wine — one would assume because they can sell their wines without awards. That’s important context not only for these thoughts but for the results of the competition too.

• No one drinks wine the way that we judged the wines. I’m not drinking 12 different petit verdots in a row, by themselves, without a fatty steak or some cheese.

And with that, let’s get to it…