{"id":8473,"date":"2016-07-18T16:38:51","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T20:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=8473"},"modified":"2016-08-11T15:50:58","modified_gmt":"2016-08-11T19:50:58","slug":"summer-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/summer-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Governor’s Cup wine competition recognizes Fauquier\u2019s best<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forget about traveling to Rio in August to see American athletes score some heavy medal. Gold medals are being poured out of Fauquier County wine bottles daily.<\/p>\n

The Governor can attest to it.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5664\"A panel of world-class judges pushed away from their tasting tables in late February and announced the winners of the 2016 Virginia Governor\u2019s Cup wine competition. It comes as no surprise to county wine lovers that five Fauquier wineries strutted off with eight gold medals.<\/p>\n

While the competition has been held for 34 years, in 2012 it was restructured to represent the highest standards of professional wine evaluation in the Nation. To be awarded a gold medal 432 wines were evaluated in preliminary rounds with 130 finalists scrutinized by 15 professional sommeliers, chefs, writers and retailers. Only 38 wines were awarded a coveted gold.<\/p>\n

The overall winner of the Governor\u2019s Cup was Keswick Vineyards in Charlottesville for its 2014 Cabernet Franc Reserve.<\/p>\n

But if it\u2019s a tasty bottle of Fauquier County white or red you are looking to score for a weekend barbecue or guest dinner, look no further than these winners:<\/p>\n

Delaplane Cellars:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02013 Williams Gap\u2014Bordeaux-styled red blend<\/p>\n

Granite Heights Winery: 2010 Evening Serenade\u2014red blend<\/p>\n

2010 Lomax Reserve\u2014red blend<\/p>\n

2012 humility\u2014red blend<\/p>\n

Naked Mountain Winery: 2012 Petit Verdot–red<\/p>\n

Pearmund Cellars:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2013 Chardonnay<\/p>\n

2013 Petit Verdot–red<\/p>\n

Vint Hill Craft Winery:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon<\/p>\n

Fauquier\u2019s strong showing reinforces the caliber of wine being produced by our winery proprietors. Congratulations to the winners, and all 26 county wineries, for their dedication to the vintner\u2019s art.<\/p>\n

But wait, there\u2019s more!
\n<\/strong>Limiting yourself to just a handful of Governor Cup winners employs the \u201cLet the experts decide\u201d search strategy. But it deprives a wine lover of many other in-county jewels just waiting to the picked from the tasting room vine.<\/p>\n

The best approach is to start visiting county vineyards and evaluating the wines yourself. It\u2019s fun and nothing beats the \u201cOh, I like this one\u201d smile that comes across the face of an oenophile when they discover a winner on their own.\"Vineyard\"<\/p>\n

But when the schedule is tight and you want to target some respected wineries, here are a few additional wines that will take you to that summertime happy place.<\/p>\n

Arterra Wines:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2014 Malbec<\/p>\n

Barrel Oak:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2012 Petit Verdot<\/p>\n

Blue Valley:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2013 Viognier<\/p>\n

Chateaux O\u2019Brien: 2011 Petit Manseng\u2014full-bodied white<\/p>\n

Desert Rose:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2014 Covert Cab<\/p>\n

Fox Meadow:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2015 Barrel fermented Chardonnay<\/p>\n

Linden: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02014 Avenius Sauvignon Blanc<\/p>\n

Philip Carter:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2014 Sabine Hall Viognier<\/p>\n

So seek, taste and evaluate on your own. The thrill of the hunt is often more fun than bagging the perfect bottle. Achieving both is wine nirvana.<\/p>\n

Cheers!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published in the 2016 Summer edition of inFauquier magazine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Governor’s Cup wine competition recognizes Fauquier\u2019s best Forget about traveling to Rio in August to see American athletes score some heavy medal. Gold medals are being poured out of Fauquier County wine bottles daily. The Governor can attest to it. A panel of world-class judges pushed away from their tasting tables in late February and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[132,881,271,609,251],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n