Barboursville Vineyards 2009 Octagon 12th Edition is a Bordeaux-style Meritage (70 percent Merlot, 15 percent Cabernet Franc, 10 percent Petit Verdot, and 5 percent Cabernet Sauvignon) that’s made in only the best vintage years. It’s the fourth Governor’s Cup that Barboursville’s won, but the first for the Octagon, which Governor McDonnell called “one of Virginia’s most iconic red wines.”

Governor Bob McDonnell presented the award at the Virginia Wineries Association’s Governor’s Cup Gala. Governor McDonnell championed major changes to the Virginia Governor’s Cup competition in 2011 that made it one of the most stringent and comprehensive wine competitions in the United States.

The 2013 Virginia Governor’s Cup Competition was conducted over two weeks of tasting. The preliminary tastings were held over ten days at the Capital Wine School in Washington DC, while the final round of tastings was held at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. The Governor’s Cup award winner was selected from the 2013 Governor’s Cup Case, the top 12 scoring wines of the competition. The other 11 wines…

Cooper Vineyards: 2010 Petit Verdot Reserve
King Family Vineyards: 2010 Meritage
Lovingston Winery: 2009 Josie’s Knoll Estate Reserve
Philip Carter Winery: 2010 Cleve
Pollak Vineyards: 2009 Cabernet Franc Reserve
Potomac Point Vineyard and Winery: 2010 Richland Reserve Heritage
Rappahannock Cellars: 2010 Meritage
RdV Vineyards: 2010 Rendezvous
RdV Vineyards: 2010 Lost Mountain
Sunset Hills Vineyard: 2010 Mosaic
Trump Winery: 2008 Sparkling Rose

Accepting for Barboursville Vineyards was Luca Paschina, Barboursville’s General Manager and Winemaker. ”It has been a pleasure and a reward to follow the evolution of the 2009 vintage of Octagon. Since harvest I took notice of its promising characters, and I was not shy to share with many that it was destined to be among the best wines I will ever produce in my life,” said Luca. “The Virginia Governor’s Cup award is an honor and further validates the character of a wine that has already won 90 points at Wine Enthusiast, the Gold Medal of the Beverage Testing Institute in Chicago, of the Winemaker’s Challenge and Critics Challenge in California, and the Platinum Medal of the Sommelier Challenge, also in California.”

Barboursville Vineyards is located in the Monticello American Viticulture Area of Central Virginia, in and around the Charlottesville region. The historic Virginia winery is located on the estate of James Barbour, former Governor of Virginia, in Barboursville. The winery was founded in 1976 by Gianni Zonin, a prominent Italian winemaker whose family has roots in Italian viticulture going back to 1821. The Zonin Group is based in Vicenza, Italy. Barboursville is Zonin’s sole American venture.

Noticeably missing from this year’s winner list…white wine and Virginia’s offiical white variety, Viognier. There’s been much talk about it online. Frank Morgan of Drink What You Like spoke to Virginia Governor’s Cup competition head judge, Jay Youmans, MW on the topic. Jay said, “It is not that Viognier has performed poorly; it has more to do with the fact that many of the reds simply reflect the strength of the 2007, 2009, and 2010 vintages. While Viognier may perform well in Virginia, it is not as commercially important in the global market as full-bodied red blends.”

Gold Cup winner 2009 Octagon 12th Edition, along with the other 11 highest scoring wines above, will comprise the Governor’s Case, and serve as drinkable marketing ambassadors for the local industry throughout the year.

The Virginia wine industry continues it’s unprecedented growth. Sales of Virginia wine reached a record high in fiscal year 2012 with more than 485,000 cases, or more than 5.8 million bottles, sold. Virginia is also the nation’s fifth largest wine grape producer. According to a recently released economic impact study, the Virginia wine industry employs more than 4,700 and contributes almost $750 million to the Virginia economy on an annual basis.

For more information on all the winners, here’s a great site from Virginia Wine.

Congratulations to the 2013 winners!

Italy, which is slightly smaller than the state of California, is one HUGE vineyard, stretching from Piedmont in the north to Sicily in the south. It is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world, and has overtaken France as the world’s largest wine producer. There are over one million vineyards in the country! This great map from De Long is an incredible resource that captures it.

Some other great Italian wine region facts…

• Italy is divided into 20 wine-producing regions that are subdivided into almost 100 provinces and 8,100 communes.
• There are over 2,000 varieties of Italian wine – far surpassing any other country in terms of variety.
• There are over 1,000 different grape varieties, most of which are indigenous. 100 of these varieties have shown capacity to make great wine.

Wine in Italy dates back to Etruscans and Greek settlers. Ancient Greeks called their Italian colonies Oenotria, the land of wine. Romans started their own vineyards in the 2^nd Century B.C. The Romans developed techniques still used today, like large-scale production and storage like barrel-making and bottling leading.

Italian Wine Classifications

Many wine country’s classifications system can be confusing. Here’s how to make sense what you’ll find on Italian wine labels.

• Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG):  Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin includes the most famous wine producing areas. Similar to DOC but wines must pass government analysis.

• Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC): Denomination of Controlled Origin is modeled on the French AOC system. This classification is based on geography, grape varieties and production methods.

• Vino a Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT): Typical Geographic Indication is a less strict classification. These wines use the geographic name of a zone to designate a wine made there, like Toscana (Tuscany) or Sicilia (Sicily). At least 85% of the wine must come from the named geographic zone.

• Vino da Tavola (VdT): “Table wine” can be produced anywhere in Italy and usually designates cheap bulk wines. However, some of Italy’s best wines have been produced under this classification.

Additional designations you will see…

• Classico: Classic, refers to a more restricted production area that is held to be particularly suited for product and historically recognized as such.
• Superiore: Superior, refers to a higher alcohol content.
• Riserva: Reserve, refers to the longer aging period used.

On our tour of Italy, we enjoyed six Italian wines from five regions across Italy, from north to south: Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, Tuscany, Abruzzo and Campania.

• Fantinel Spumante Prosecco Extra Dry NV (IGT)
• 2011 Bruni Plinio Vermentino Maremma Toscana (IGT)
• 2011 Tenuta La Cipressaia Chianti Classico DOCG
• 2007 Visconti Della Rocca Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva DOC
• 2010 Damilano Barbera d’Asti DOCG
• 2001 Serpico dei Feudi di San Gregorio Irpinia Anglianico

Fantinel Spumante Prosecco Extra Dry NV (IGT)

• Variety: Glera (formerly known as Prosecco) from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region
• Aroma: Golden apple, pear, honeysuckle
• Taste: Crisp and fruity with undertones of spice and nut
• Price: $16, available on winedeals.com, wallywine.com
• My Thoughts: This is an excellent Prosecco that everyone enjoyed and commented about how it was the perfect balance of dry and fruit without much sweetness. Prosecco is my favorite bubbly and a great economical bubbly option.

2010 Damilano Barbera d’Asti DOCG

• Variety: Barbera from the Barbera d’Asti region in Piedmont
• Aroma: Sour cherry and earthy
• Taste: Sweet jam, berries, light tobacco or leather
• Price: $16, available  on wineaccess.com
• My Thoughts: This is a big wine and was our 5th of the evening. Everyone was impressed with it’s complexity and for such a great price!

There are so many wines to explore in Italy. Grape Occasions has many articles on Italian wine, and in the next few articles, we’ll highlight some other Italian tastings we’ve done in the past few months to help in your Italian exploration.

Share with us YOUR favorite Italian!

Saluté to the wonderful world of Italian wine!

The Academy of Motion Pictures has all the tools you need to Celebrate the Oscars at Home…

• The Oscar® Collection on Evite Postmark®
• Your Official Oscar Ballot
• Recipes
• The Governors Ball Menu

And you’ll definitely want to serve the official wine and bubbles being served for the festivities. Here’s the scoop…

Champagne Thiénot

Champagne Thiénot is the exclusive Champagne of Sunday’s event.

This is the first time the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has elected to feature a little-known, relatively rare champagne.

During the pre-show reception, guests will enjoy Thiénot Brut, while at the Governors Ball the Thiénot Rosé and the Thiénot Vintage 2005 will be paired with the fine cuisine of Chef Wolfgang Puck.

Thiénot Champagne comes from the city of Reims, located in the heart of the historic Champagne region. Most of the grapes come from its own vineyards, in the famous Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims.

Sterling Vineyards

Sterling Vineyards, of Napa Valley, provides the featured wines of the Governors Ball for the 7th year including

Harry Hansen, Senior Winemaker for Sterling Vineyards, and his team of winemakers will feature the Sterling Vineyards 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and the very limited edition Sterling Vineyards 2009 Reserve Chardonnay.

In describing his wines, Hansen says, “The Reserve Cabernet shows notes of dark cherries, cassis, with hints of licorice, cocoa powder and black pepper. The Reserve Chardonnay offers aromas and flavors of toffee, nutmeg, baked apples and poached pears, touched with lingering notes of caramel and baking spice. Both wines will complement the extraordinary menu that Chef Wolfgang Puck has created for this celebration.”

Have a great celebration! Cheers to the 84th Annual Academy Awards!

Each Wine Wednesday, from 3-4pm PT, Monique Soltani, serves up an hour of wine and food fun for listeners. After reading my piece on Alcohol Free Wine, she invited me the show to discuss the topic…”all the booze and none of the buzz.” It was great fun!

Also on Wednesday’s show were…

• Cameron Hughes from Cameron Hughes Wine talking great value wines from all over the world
• Vintners Hall of Fame Inductee Ceremony details
• A tour of Italy with Casa Vinicola Zonin, especially for Valentine’s Day
• Xurus proprietor, Ali Namdar, talking Lake County California wines with a French connection
• Jo Diaz talking Petite Sirah and her Dark and Delicious event.

Listen to the replay here (my interview is in the final 10 minutes).

Thank you for having me Monique!

Cheers to Wine Oh TV!

Fuori Strada is the brand and winemaker…bringing you wines from ‘the road less traveled,’ fuori strada in Italian. The wines start with organic Italian grapes. They have two wines, Grillo 2011 from Sicily and Sangiovese from Tuscany.

The bright packaging catches your eye, and it’s good for the environment. The Tetra Pak carton uses 54% less energy, creates 80% less greenhouse gasses, produces 60% less solid waste volume and has 92% less package weight, compared to a 750ml glass wine bottle. PLUS with the packaging you get more for your money…250ml more than typicaly 750ml bottle.

The packaging also does a fun job of describing the product…classically Italian, beautifully balances, fresh and crisp, juicy citrus, lighter, sustaianable package. The wine is also suitable for vegans.

I picked up the white wine, Grillo, which is thought to have been used in one of Julius Caesar’s favorite wines.

Fuori Strada: Off Road Grillo 2011

• Variety: Grillo from Sicily
• Aroma: citrus, floral
• Taste: balanced lemon and touch of tropical blossom with a honey finish
• Price: $14 (available at BOTTLEROCKET in-store and online)
• My thoughts: Really nice wine…one of best I’ve tasted in Tetra Pak! Grillo is similar to Pinot Grigio but has a bit more body, depth and characteristic.

Look forward to trying the Sangiovese.

Cheers, as always, to the road less traveled!

I was pleasantly surprised by the vast selection at my local Total Wine & More where I picked up 8 bottles from three different brands.

• Fre Wines from Sutter Home Winery: 2011 Chardonnay, 2011 Merlot, 2011 Premium Red Blend, Brut Sparkling
• ARIEL Vineyards from J. Lohr Vineyards: 2011 Chardonnay, Blanc
• St. Regis Wine: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by their likeness to wine with alcohol. That must be credited to the way they are made…like regular wine then the alcohol is removed (more on that below). Here were our favorites…

White Wine

ARIEL Vineyards Chardonnay 2011

• Variety: Chardonnay
• Aroma: Pear, vanilla, oaky/musky
• Taste: Tropical fruit, pear, toasty
• Price: $7.99
• My thoughts: The white wines were interesting but this one rose to the top. It truly was the most Chardonnay-like with the true characteristics of the variety. It was my Dad’s favorite and one he wanted to get more of for regular drinking at home.

J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, in California’s Central Coast, has owned and operated ARIEL Vineyards since 1985. ARIEL wines are made with grapes varieties grown in California and fermented as normal wines are. Then 99.5% of the alcohol is removed through their cold filtration process using reverse osmosis. It allows alcohol removal while retaining the qualities found in traditional wine.

Sparkling Wine

Fre Brut Sparkling 2011

• Variety: Unknown
• Aroma: Pear and apple
• Taste: Crisp apple
• Price: $7.49
• My thoughts: This was the BEST of all the wines! You would have NO idea this was alcohol removed and doesn’t taste like a sparkling grape juice! It is a lovely sparkling wine alternative.

Sutter Home Winery produces Fre Alcohol-Removed Wines. After harvest, the winemakers craft the wine using traditional methods. Once the desired wine is achieved, they use the “state-of-the-art” spinning cone technology to remove the alcohol. Pioneered in Australia, the process uses a combination of centrifugal force and nitrogen gas to separate the alcohol and preserve the wine’s aromas and flavor creating a wine with less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.

Red Wine

Fre Merlot 2011

• Variety: Merlot
• Aroma: Cherry and plum
• Taste: Berry, cotton candy, plum with a touch of spice
• Price: $6.99
• My thoughts: This was definitely the best red wine with lots of depth, layers and characteristics, even more so than your typical Merlot actually.

Same alcohol removal process as above.

It was a great experiment and fun to try all the different wines. I’m very happy my Dad can join our wine toasts with something enjoyable in this glass!

Have you tried any you enjoyed?

Cheers to alcohol-free wine alternatives!