King Family Vineyard’s 2019 Meritage won the prestigious 2024 Virginia Governor’s Cup on Thursday.
The wine, which is a blend of merlot, petit verdot, cabernet franc, and Malbec, are featured in the Virginia Governor’s Cup Case along with 11 other top scoring wines, including three from NoVA.
This is the fourth time the Crozet-based winery has won the Virginia Governor’s Cup. King Family Vineyards will be among the wineries and breweries at Northern Virginia Magazine’s Taste of NoVA on May 19 at the National Museum of the U.S. Army.
Judges evaluate the wines on appearance, aroma, flavor, commercial suitability, and overall quality, with the 12 highest scoring going into the case.
The Governor’s Cup case includes the 2019 The Fog Nebbiolo Reserve from Purcellville’s Breaux Vineyards, the 2022 Albariño from Leesburg’s October One Vineyard, and the 2022 Petit Manseng from Clifton’s Paradise Springs Winery.
The full 2024 Virginia Governor’s Cup case will include these wines — seven reds and five whites, including one sparkling:
- King Family Vineyards, 2019 Meritage
- Afton Mountain Vineyards, 2019 T
- Barboursville Vineyards, 2019 Paxxito
- Bluestone Vineyard, 2017 Petit Verdot
- Breaux Vineyards, 2019 The Fog Nebbiolo Reserve
- Cave Ridge Vineyard, 2019 Fossil Hill Reserve
- CrossKeys Vineyards, Blanc De Noir
- Hark Vineyards, 2019 Spark
- Michael Shaps Wineworks, 2020 L.Scott
- Mountain and Vine Vineyards and Winery, 2022 Chardonnay
- October One Vineyard, 2022 Albariño
- Paradise Springs Winery, 2022 Petit Manseng
This was the 42nd year of the competition. There were more than 750 entries across Virginia.
The 2024 best-in-show cider award went to Buskey Cider out of Richmond for its 2022 Ruby Red Crab Apple Cider.
See all of the winners on the Virginia Governor’s Cup website.
Feature image courtesy Virginia Wine
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