, 2023 Virginia Governor’s Cup Competition Awards The State’s Most Outstanding Wines

Wine competitions are a dime a dozen these days, and it seems like every winery in the world is boasting about how they’ve won this or that medal. Yet some competitions stand out from the crowd with their use of rigorous judging processes that, ultimately, help consumers discover great wines. The Virginia Governor’s Cup is one of them.

Since its inception in 1982, the Virginia Governor’s Cup competition has grown in stature and is now one of the most prestigious wine contests in the United States. Each year, highly qualified judges (sommeliers, wine writers and educators, Masters of Wine, distributors, and retailers) gather in Virginia to blind-taste, over several days, a wide range of the state’s offerings. Medals are awarded based on a wine’s appearance, aroma, flavor, overall quality, and commercial suitability. 

The 2023 competition was record-breaking, with 614 entries and 142 gold medals awarded to wines that scored an average of 90 points or higher on a 100-point scale. The top-scoring wine was recognized as the Governor’s Cup winner, with the top twelve making up the Virginia Governor’s Cup Case

The competition highlights how far Virginia wine has come since the colonists planted the state’s first grapevines in 1609. Today the Virginia wine community is producing quality wines that embody the state’s experimental spirit in eight unique winemaking AVAs.

Ready to explore Virginia Wine Country and discover why it’s a top U.S. destination for wine lovers? The Gold Medal Wine Trail website offers a mobile pass for visiting Virginia’s winning wineries.

This Article was originally published on The Wine Chef

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