Two Nelson County wines are honored in Governor's Cup Case

By: Katrina Koerting | The Nelson County Times
Published: February 29, 2012

Two Nelson County wines will be featured as part of the first ever Governor’s Cup Case.

Last Thursday, Governor Bob McDonnell announced the Delfosse Vineyards & Winery 2007 Meritage Blend and the Veritas 2010 Vinter’s Reserve Meritage Blend will be part of the case, which is made up of the 12 highest scoring wines in this year’s Governor’s Cup, a competition that judges wines made in Virginia from only Virginian fruit. The contest is owned and managed by the Virginia Wineries Association.

“I think we’re blessed to live in a region that gives us the opportunity to grow the grapes to make such good wine, because without the grapes, you can’t make the wine,” said Paul Mierzejewski, the wine maker at Delfosse Vineyards and Winery.

All of the grapes used to make the wine come from Nelson County with 70 percent coming from Delfosse’s vineyard in Faber and 30 percent coming from Silver Creek Orchards in Tyro.

He said he was impressed that one of their wines was chosen to be in the case out of the more than 400 wines submitted.

Emily Pelton, the winemaker for Veritas Vineyards and Winery, said she was proud and honored to receive a gold ranking and be part of the case. A gold ranking is a score that received a score of 90 to 100 points.

Most of the grapes in Veritas’ winning wine were grown on Veritas’ vineyard in Afton. The rest of the grapes were grown within 20 minutes of the vineyard.

“I was thrilled to be in the Governor’s Case, especially because they just revamped the whole competition,” she said.

This year, Jay Youmans, a wine master was the judging director for the competion.

Neither winery knows the score they received or their ranking among the 12 case wines.

The wines were selected through a series of judging panels beginning in January, with the scores averaged together, creating the final score.

The award-winning wines will be used to promote Virginia wine throughout the year. They will also be used for educational purposes to improve Virginian wines, according to a news release from the governor and the Virginia Wine Board.

This year’s Governor’s Cup winner was Glen Manor Vineyards 2009 Hodder Hill Meritage, which is located in Front Royal Virginia.