Behind the Cork™ - Virginia Wine Governor's Cup Winner: Valley Road Petit Manseng

2023 Valley Road Vineyards Petit Manseng ($29.95)

Organized in 2015, Valley Road Vineyards was conceived by a group of friends who brought talents from successful careers in law, advertising, insurance, real estate development, and writing, among others. With their mutual love of Virginia and a shared desire to support the emerging Virginia wine industry, they thought a vineyard and tasting room operation in the heart of the Monticello American Viticulture Area (AVA) would be a good choice for their next chapter together.

It seems to have worked out quite well! Their first-ever vintage of single-varietal Petit Manseng was a top winner in the Virginia Wine Governor’s Cup and included in the winning case!

This Valley Road Petit Manseng was produced from 100% Petit Manseng grapes sourced from their Mountain Glen Vineyard in Lovingston, Virginia. The grapes were whole-cluster pressed and fermented in neutral oak barrels.

Valley Road Petit Manseng is a beautiful gold color with aromas of honey and tropical fruit. On the palate, it has classic sweetness of Petit Manseng, flavors of apricot, mango and honey, along with bright acidity to balance the sweetness. [ABV: 13.5. TA: 7.84 g/L, pH: 3.25, Residual Sugar: 2.2%]

Petit Manseng is widely recognized as a sweet wine from France but, while this wine can be used as a dessert wine, it also goes wonderfully with appetizers or light entries. If you like sweet wines you are going to love this one!

This Valley Road Petit Manseng is a winning wine, at a very affordable price, that fits right in as this week’s Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review.

Media Sample Provided by Valley Road Vineyards, Virginia Wine and Donna White Communications

The Art of Wine Making: Choosing the Right Bottle and Label

Choosing the right bottle and label is the final step in the art of winemaking.

While the bottle and label are more about marketing, branding, and presentation than the winemaking process itself, they do play a role in creating a complete wine experience.

The bottle shape and design can tell about the wine's character and its heritage. For example, a Burgundy bottle (tall, slender) is often associated with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, while a Bordeaux bottle (with straight sides and a high shoulder) is commonly used for Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and red blends. And, clear bottles are almost alway used for rosé wines in order to show off their color.

The weight of the bottle can also imply quality with heavier bottles often being used to bottle higher-end wines. But, again, this is largely marketing - just because the wine bottle is heavy doesn’t mean it’s a great wine.

As for the label, this is a way to tell a story and give the wine its own identity. A well-designed label can reflect the wine’s origin, the winemaker’s style, and the character of the winery. It's also a way to differentiate a wine from the competition on the shelf. Labels often feature artwork, typography, and even storytelling elements that make the wine stand out and feel unique. For some wineries, creating a memorable label can be just as important as producing a quality wine.

The bottle closure, cork vs. twist-off, and whether to have a foil capsule or not, are other aspects of the chosen wine bottle. Again, a cork is not necessarily better than a twist-off cap (a subject of much debate) and a foil capsule, while providing some protection for a cork, is just another part of the winery’s marketing and method of making their bottle look special.

But, what it all comes down to is what’s Behind the Cork™ - the wine itself. Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Virginia Wine Governor's Cup Winner: Veritas Vineyards White Blend

2023 Veritas Vineyards Monticello White Blend ($35)

Veritas Winery was started by Andrew and Patricia Hodson in 1999. Born out of their love of wine and commitment to producing quality wine, Veritas has grown into a 20-year-old family business that is on the leading edge of the Virginia wine industry.

With over 50 acres in the Monticello wine region, and producing a complex portfolio of wine ranging from sparkling to beautifully balanced red wines, Veritas wine quality starts in the vineyard, and the terroir of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Winemaker Emily Hodson, daughter of Andrew and Patricia, has been the winemaker at Veritas for over 15 harvests.

This Veritas Vineyards Monticello White Blend is produced from 50% Chardonnay, 22% Viognier, 17% Sauvignon Blanc and 11% Petit Manseng. Fermentation took place in 30% stainless steel and 70% oak. The wine was aged for 10 months in a combination of 11% new oak, 56% two-year oak, and 33% neutral oak.

The wine is a beautiful medium gold color with aromas of melon, apple, pineapple and spice On the palate, this medium-light bodied wine has flavors of melon, guava and peach with subtle hint of flavor from the oak aging. It finishes soft and smooth with just a touch of acidity at the end.

Winemaker Emily Hodson said that she worked long and hard on this blend and finally got it “just right” on the sixth try. I have to agree! This Monticello White Blend is terrific! And obvious why it was a winner in the Virginia Governor’s Cup. A great wine at a super affordable price as this week’s Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review.

Media Sample Provided by Veritas Vineyard and Winery, Virginia Wine and Donna White Communications

The Art of Wine Making: Having a Trained Nose and Palate to Evaluate the Wine

A wine maker using a Wine Thief to remove wine from a barrel for tasting

Winemakers rely heavily on their senses of smell and taste to evaluate the evolution of their wine from the grapes in the vineyard to the final product that goes in the bottle. While part of this process is science, a significant part is an art that wine makers develop over years of training and experience.

This training and experience are used throughout the wine making process. While there is science (i.e., chemistry) involved, the wine makers use their senses throughout the process:

• In the vineyard, they can measure the grape’s sugar and acid levels, but a trained wine maker will also inspect the grapes, break them open, taste the juice, taste the seeds and evaluate the tannin

• During fermentation, a wine maker will be constantly tasting the wine as the grape’s natural sugars convert to alcohol

• Once the fermentation is complete, the wine maker is again smelling and tasting the wine as it ages

• If the wine is being aged in oak, the wine maker will be evaluating how the flavors of the oak are integrating with the wine

• Following aging, many wine makers will blend their wines in order to achieve the final aromas and tastes desired

• Just prior to bottling, the wine maker will ensure the wine is properly filtered (or not) and ensure that the bottles and bottling process are clean and ready to go

I have always loved the words of a wine maker that I met early in my wine adventures who said that “Making wine is easy. Making good wine is hard.” It is the artistic side of wine makers that make the difference between an ordinary bottle of wine and an outstanding bottle of wine. Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Virginia Wine Governor's Cup Winner: DuCard Cabernet Franc

2023 DuCard Vineyards Vintner Reserve Cabernet Franc ($60)

DuCard Vineyards has been growing grapes for nearly two decades at their property, nestled at the eastern edge of the Shenandoah National Park in the shadow of Old Rag Mountain and White Oak Canyon.

DuCard Vineyard wines are handmade using traditional methods, in their on-site winery, from grapes grown by them at their three local Madison County vineyard sites. 

While this level of authenticity was the norm 10 to 20 years ago as the Virginia wine industry was just getting started, it is less common now.  But DuCard considers it extremely important for producing high quality wines that express a sense of ‘place’ or local terroir.

Winemaker Julien Durantie was born in the Bordeaux wine region and spent his formative years working on his family’s vineyard in Entre-deux-Mers, as well as at other renowned estates, including Château Macchore and Châteaude Cappes. He’s been with DuCard since 2007.

This DuCard Vintner Reserve Cabernet Franc is produced from 100% Cabernet Franc grapes that are lightly crushed, cold-soaked overnight and fermented in an open fermenter with two punchdowns and one pumpover each day. Fermentation lasts 21 days before being barreled and aged in 3-4 year old French oak for nine months.

The DuCard Cabernet Franc is medium purple in color with a good nose of black fruit and some earthiness. It is medium-full bodied with medium acidity and tannin, great black fruit flavors along with the classic peppercorn flavors of Cab Franc, and a smooth and balanced finish. [ABV: 13%, TA: 5.5 g/L, pH:3.9, Residual Sugar: <0.1%]

DuCard Vintner Reserve Cabernet Franc is another winner of the Virginia Wine Governor’s Cup and included in the winner’s case. It’s a really nice wine that fits right in as this week’s Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review.

Media Sample Provided by DuCard Vineyards, Virginia Wine and Donna White Communications