November 12, 2024 (Quicksburg, VA) — The Shenandoah Valley Wine Trail, comprised of wineries in the Shenandoah Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), the oldest and largest in the state, presented the Sixth Shenandoah Cup trophy to the top-rated wine submitted in its competition at a Celebration held on November 8 at The Yellow Barn at Shenandoah Caverns in Shenandoah County. Muse Vineyard’s Non-Vintage Erato, a blend of 82% Vidal Blanc, 7% Picpoul, 4% Muscat and a bit each of Albarino, Marsanne and Roussanne, won the Cup with the highest point score.
The top six wines will be used for marketing purposes. In addition to Erato they are in order: 540, a collaborative blend of 1/3 each Petit Verdot from Bluestone and The Winery at Kindred Pointe and Cabernet Sauvignon from Wolf Gap; CrossKeys Chardonnay; Bluestone Blanc de Blanc; Bluestone No Such Thing As Normal; and Brix & Columns Chardonnay.
Members submitted 59 wines for judging by a panel organized by Frank Morgan, a Virginia wine writer for various publications and the author of the “Drink What You Like” blog. Wines were judged in flights and scored on the 100-point Wine Spectator scale. The judging panel consisted of wine experts Richard Leahy, Paul Ting, Sujata Mehta, Kristen Thomas, Renee Dunn,
Tassie Pippert, Cassandra Kessman, Rachel Gendreau, Anna Keitzerow, Lance Lemon, Matthew Brown, and Quyhn Cohen. Twenty wines won gold medals, 34 earned silver medals, and five earned a bronze medal. All wines must be made with 85% Shenandoah Valley grapes and produced by a member of the Shenandoah Valley Wine Trail.
Gold medals were awarded to:
- Barren Ridge Vineyards 2021 Petit Verdot
- Barren Ridge Vineyards 2022 Cabernet Franc
- Bluestone Vineyard 2017 Blanc de Blancs
- Bluestone Vineyard 2023 No Such Thing As Normal
- Bluestone Vineyard 2023 Pinot Meunier
- Briedé Family Vineyards 2023 Marquette
- Briedé Family Vineyards 2023 Traminette
- Briedé Family Vineyards 2023 Arandell Special Reserve
- Brix & Columns Vineyards 2021 Chardonnay
- Brix & Columns Vineyards 2021 Cabernet Franc
- Cave Ridge Vineyard 2022 Sparkling Resling Blanc de Blanc
- CrossKeys Vineyards 2023 Chardonnay
- CrossKeys Vineyards 2023 Sauvignon Blanc
- Great Valley Farm Winery 2022 Panoramic
- Muse Vineyards Non-Vintage Erato
- Shenandoah Valley Wine Trail Collaboration 540
- The Winery at Kindred Pointe 2020 Picasso
- Wisteria Farm & Vineyard 2023 Aphrodite
- Wolf Gap Vineyard 2022 Cabernet Franc Reserve
- Wolf Gap Vineyard 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Gold Medalist 540 is a collaborative red blend composed of equal parts Bluestone 2022 Petit Verdot, The Winery at Kindred Pointe 2020 Petit Verdot and Wolf Gap 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon and the Celebration was the first time it was available for tasting.
Trail President Lee Hartman, winemaker at Bluestone Vineyard, welcomed the crowd and spoke briefly about the Valley and the Trail. Steve Gregory from WHSV-TV was the Emcee for the evening and thanked our sponsors and The Yellow Barn at Shenandoah Caverns. He then introduced Cup judge Renee Dunn who explained how the judging was conducted.
Gregory then introduced guest speaker Matt Lohr, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture who discussed how important grapes and wines are to the Virginia economy.
Event sponsors were Creekside Insurance Advisors and Winchester Equipment. The goal of the Shenandoah Cup competition is to draw more attention to the Shenandoah Valley AVA by highlighting the superior growing conditions for wine grapes and the resulting wines that are being made from them.
