Behind the Cork™ - Virginia Wine Governor's Cup Overall Winner: Barboursville Vineyards

2023 Barboursville Vineyards Vermentino Reserve ($23)

Earlier this year, a qualified team of judges sampled over 620 of the best Virginia wines, ciders and meads from across the Commonwealth. Over the past several weeks, I’ve featured the wines that comprised the winning case. Now we come to the wine with the highest overall score thus the one taking home the coveted Governor's Cup - Barboursville Vineyards Vermentino Reserve.

If you are not familiar with Vermentino, it’s a wine of medium lightness of body, that’s in between Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

This wine was produced from 100% Vermentino that was fermented in stainless steel with no malolactic conversion and then aged for 7 to 8 months, on lees, again in stainless steel.

The Barboursville Vineyards Vermentino Reserve is a pale gold in color with aromas of lemon and pear. On the palate, this medium-bodied wine has nice bright acidity along with some minerality and a touch of saline. It finishes long, soft and smooth. [ABV: 13%, TA: 6.1 g/L, pH: 3.46, RS: 0.1%]

No where else will you find a grand-champion wine like this Barboursville Vineyards Vermentino Reserve at this price. And, at last check, it’s still available on-line. This is great winner featured as the Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

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

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

Reader Asks "Was I Supposed to Consume it Earlier?"

I recently received a message from a EverWonderWine reader regarding a bottle of white dessert wine that said “Just opened a 2011 bottle. Wine is dark red brown and tastes like molasses with a hint of vinegar. Bleh! What happened? I loved it at the tasting. Was I supposed to consume it earlier?”

So first, the simple answer is “Yes,” the 2011 white dessert wine should have been consumed earlier. No white wine should look dark red-brown, taste like molasses and have a hint of vinegar.

But, the fact that the wine went bad is not necessarily because of the age. A 2011 bottle of wine, if properly sealed and stored could easily have lasted 14 years. The color may darken over time but it won’t become like molasses with hints of vinegar.

To me, it sounds like the bottle probably was not well sealed and/or it wasn’t stored properly. When a wine gets exposure to oxygen, through an improper seal (e.g., a leaky cork), it will oxidize. Just as a pealed banana or apple turns brown with time, so too will a white wine. The other likely culprit could be improper storage temperature and/or exposure to direct sunlight. Wines should always be stored in a cool and dark place if they are going to be held for any period of time. Room temperature is too warm for wine. Storage temperatures should be “cellar” temperatures which range from 46° - 60° F for white wines to 50° - 65° F for red wines. And, ensure that your wines are kept out of direct sun light, preferably in a dark closet, basement or wine refrigerator.

So, store your bottles on their side (keeps the cork from drying out), in a cool and darkened place and you are more likely to enjoy an aged wine. Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Virginia Wine Governor's Cup Winner: Winery at La Grange

2023 Winery at La Grange Petit Menseng ($39)

The site of this winery is rich in history. It was originally carved out of Robert “King” Carter’s Bull Run Tract in the 1600s and later became known as La Grange. The Winery at La Grange was established in 2011 with the vineyard spanning 1.25 acres, with occasional supplementation from Round Hill, VA.

Winemaker Seth Chambers holds degrees in Organic Chemistry and Plant Biology from Penn State University. He then earned an Enology Certification from WSU and now has 19 years of winemaking experience.

This Petit Manseng comes from Catherine's Vineyard in Haymarket, VA (Prince William County) where it is grown at an elevation of 550 feet. It is produced from 100% Petit Menseng that was aged on-lees, in neutral French oak. [ABV: 13.6%, TA: N/R, pH: 3.2, RS: 0 g/L]

Winery at La Grange Petit Menseng is medium gold in color with delicate aromas of pineapple and spice. On the palate, it has flavors of pineapple and apricot and bold acidity to counter the natural sweet flavor of Petit Menseng. It finishes sweet, tart and bright.

This Winery at La Grange Petit Menseng is another winning wine, at a great price, that fits right in as this week’s Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

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

Media Sample Provided by Winery at La Grange, Virginia Wine and Donna White Communications

Residual Sugar in Wine: How to Convert a Percentage to Grams Per Liter and Visaversa

The amount of residual sugar (RS) in wine can be reported either in grams per liter (g/L) or as a percentage (%). They are just two ways of specifying the same sugar concentration. But, how are the two measures related? Well, it’s actually quite simple to do the conversion.

When a wine’s residual sugar is reported in grams per liter, it specifies the grams of sugar in 100 mL of wine. This is so because a percentage is expressed per hundred. So, to briefly get a bit mathematical, since 1 liter is 1,000 milliliters, if you have a wine with a given number of grams per liter of residual sugar, you have to divide that number by 10 to to get the value per 100 milliliters so that it can be expressed as a percentage.

Simply put:

  • To convert grams per liter to a percentage: % sugar = grams per liter divided by 10

    • % Sugar = g/L ÷ 10

  • To convert a percentage to grams per liter: Grams/L = Percentage x 10

    • g/L = % x 10

So, a wine 5 g/L of residual sugar is 0.5% sugar (5 ÷ 10) and a wine that has 2% residual sugar has 20 g/L (2 x 10 = 20 g/L)

Here are some typical amounts of residual sugar in typical wines: