Keswick Vineyards owners Cindy and Al Schornberg hoist the 2009 Governor’s Cup for their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.

PHOTO FROM KW WEBSITE

At the Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition this year, our own Keswick Vineyards took home top honors for its 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, which was selected as Virginia’s best wine from a list of 250 entries. It was the second Governor’s Cup for Keswick winemaker, Stephen Barnard.

Keswick’s 2006 Heritage Estate Reserve also took home a gold medal, as did Barboursville Winery’s 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Jefferson Vineyards’ 2007 Petit Verdot, Veritas Vineyards’ 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, and Virginia Wineworks’ 2007 Cabernet Franc.

Barnard says he was “elated” to see red wines do so well in the competition, as Virginia has been known more as a white wine producing State, he says.

“The 2007 season was about as perfect a growing season as we could want and the fruit quality was fantastic, so all credit to our vineyard team,” says Barnard. “My job is easy then, just reflect in a bottle what the fruit naturally gave me. The exciting thing is that the wine is still so young and probably will get better with two or three years additional bottle aging.”

Governor’s Cup judge and local wine expert Richard Leahy appears to agree.

“It’s frankly too young now, will be worth trying at the beginning of winter in nine months, and should reach peak in three to five years,” he writes on his blog. “Excellent balance, very stylish and shows the potential for this grape in long, dry growing seasons in Virginia.”

However, Leahy also says he was “disappointed by a lot of dull, ho-hum and frankly mediocre wine among the gems, “considering the strengths of the 2007 and 2008 vintages.

“The well-made examples of red meritage wines show that others who blew it that year can’t simply shrug and say they were powerless to do better in an off-vintage year,” he says. “The standard for average quality in the Virginia wine industry should be higher by now.”

However, he also said there is a top tier of Virginia winemakers who have soared in front of the grape pack.

“And their wines are not just excellent wines, they are wines that showcase Virginia terroir in exciting ways, showing what is possible,” he says. “From the Puligny Montrachet-like Rapphannock ’07 oaked chardonnay, to the Cote Rotie-like Rockbridge syrah, to the Duoro-like touriga from Barren Ridge Vineyards, Virginia’s top wines are among the best in North America.”