While California undoubtedly produces excellent wine, it's got stiff competition these days. The United States is as of 2016 home to 238 American Viticultural Areas, or AVAs–grape-growing regions designated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. We asked a panel of wine industry experts to pick their favorite American wine regions. Vote for your favorite out of this pool of 20 nominees once per day until voting ends on Monday, August 20 at noon ET.
The Challenges and Rewards of Making Petit Verdot
Producers make the case for the variety, and show how to get customers excited about the grape.
By Jameson Fink for SevenFifty Daily
Of the red wine grapes that make up classic Bordeaux blends, Petit Verdot seems to have the fewest fans. It ripens late and can produce wines with overwhelming tannins. Petit Verdot has been judged to be a supporting actor, a component for boosting color and body. It rarely gets to be the star. But every grape has its champion—or at least a winemaker willing to work with one often relegated to a minor role.
Veritas Vineyard & Winery Wins 2018 Monticello Cup Wine Competition
The Monticello Cup Awards (MCA) was held on Monday, May 7, 2018 at the Jefferson Theater to celebrate the winning wines of the 28th Annual Monticello Cup Wine Competition. All wines were produced by members of the Monticello Wine Trail (MWT) and contained at least 85% fruit from the Monticello American Viticultural Area (AVA). There were 13 gold (including the Top 3 Red, Top 3 White, and the overall Monticello Cup winner), 27 silver and 15 bronze medals awarded. The Monticello Cup was presented to Veritas Vineyard & Winery for their 2015 Petit Verdot “Paul Shaffer’s 7th Edition”.
King Family Vineyards' 2014 Meritage Wins 2018 Governor's Cup
By Jack Berninger for the Richmond Times Dispatch
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.
Monticello Wine Trail Wineries Account for Nearly Half of all Gold Medals in VA Governor's Cup
Charlottesville, Va., March 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau (CACVB) is excited to announce that members of the Monticello Wine Trail accounted for nearly half of all gold medals awarded in this year’s Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition.