King Family Vineyards' 2014 Meritage Wins 2018 Governor's Cup

By Jack Berninger for the Richmond Times Dispatch (link to original article)

RICHMOND — King Family Vineyards’ 2014 Meritage, a bright and complex Bordeaux-style blend with merlot as the dominant grape, was recently judged as the best wine in Virginia, winning the 2018 Governor’s Cup winner Tuesday night at a gala in Richmond that drew more than 600 spectators.

Described as having a nose of bright red fruit, violets, dried rose petals with delicate notes of saffron, vanilla and spice that lead to layered flavors of cherry and raspberry, the Meritage stood tall among a staggering number of 99 gold medal wines awarded after a stringent four-week, blind judging of 442 all-Virginia grape wines.

The Crozet vineyard’s Meritage — a blend of 50 percent merlot, 23 percent petit verdot, 21 percent cabernet franc and 6 percent malbec — was the highest scoring wine, with the next 11 constituting the Governor’s Cup Case.

Jay Youmans, master of wine and head of the Governor’s Cup judging, described the Meritage as “well-balanced, a dead ringer for a classic-growth Bordeaux. It really replicated that kind of a quality you look for in a big quality Bordeaux. What impressed the judges is that this blend has not only been outstanding, it’s been consistently outstanding.”

Thank winemaker Matthieu Finot’s love of merlot for that.

“As always, merlot has been our staple and my workhorse at King Family,” he said. “From year to year, it has always been the most consistent.”

Each grape plays a pivotal role in the success of the King Family Meritages, but in varying amounts every year.

“Merlot is the backbone of the wine,” said Finot, a native of Crozes-Hermitage in the Rhone Valley of France. “It brings some nice, fruity component with some delicate tannin associated to a good freshness.”

“Merlot does very well in the Monticello [American Viticulture Area],” he said. “For us, the natural chemistry of the berries is always good to produce premium wine. Our site here at King Family naturally keeps a good acid in the wine and makes the complexity that I need for this wine. This is a good terroir for merlot.”

King Family estate grapes are the primary fruit in the wine, although some come from Turk Mountain, an Afton vineyard that the winery has been working with since 2007.

David King, the patriarch of the King Family that has owned the winery since 1996, appreciates what Finot has done since his arrival in 2003.

“One of the great challenges of wine growing in Virginia is the unpredictable nature of our climate, which can be the source of excitement and anxiety,” King said. “Matthieu has shown over his career that he understands both the risks and opportunities that this creates.

“We believe that even in challenging vintages, King Family Vineyards’ wines will continue to be a bold statement of his expertise and his intimate knowledge of our terroir. Of course, our family and team are proud of his tireless dedication to our winery, but we are also extremely proud of Matthieu’s participation in the larger Virginia industry.”

Finot says he has a focus when producing wines.

“When I make wine, awards and accolade are not something that I have in mind. I am just trying to do something that I like and I can be proud of,” he said. “Winning some awards is just bonus. Of course, it is always good to see that some other people like what I — we — do.

“But I just want to stay humble about it. I know there is a lot of good wines in Virginia just by looking at the number of gold medals. I just consider myself as part of the big Virginia wine family. A lot of us are looking forward and trying to improve what we do every vintage. This is really what is important, and this also is what is uplifting with Virginia wines these days.”

Unless you spot a long-ago distributed bottle at your local wine shop, King Family’s 2014 Meritage ($54.95) is available only at the Crozet winery. More information can be found at kingfamilyvineyards.com.

Jack Berninger can be contacted at jberninger@timesdispatch.com