The winners of The Virginia Governors Cup Wine Competition were announced this week and we were very pleased to have won a gold medal for our 2012 Tannat as well as a few silvers and bronzes. (Check out our Facebook page to see all the medal winners.) Some folks in the industry wonder if the traditional wine competition is still a viable way to send the message to consumers about the quality of our wines.  Is Robert Parker's method of panel judging and numeric scoring still the best way, or is it skewed to the wines he and his panel prefer?

One of the challenges that the Governor's Cup competition has faced is that there are very few whites that score in the gold range and even a lower representation in the governor's case, which consists of the 12 best-scoring wines from the competition.  The more subtle and elegant reds are often overlooked as well, as the big red blends and bold varietals get most of the recognition. I guess I cannot complain, since we are being honored with gold again this year for our Tannat, but are other wines getting a fair consideration? Our customers have shown they enjoy a wide range of wines, including the lighter ones.  Is there a better way to judge wine and structure competition?

These are good questions to ponder.  The reality is that at most wineries, people buy what they like because they get to taste it first. At most retail and shop locations, where tastings aren't always offered, medals and awards can help the customers decide on which wines to purchase. Some wine competitions are more consumer based rather than expert judging based. Do you trust your friend's recommendation more than an expert? Okay, more questions. My opinion at this point is that we will continue to enter and support select wine competitions as well as any reasonable new efforts to create new judging models.  Truthfully, we will always trust our experience, listen to our customers and have some fun within the parameters of quality recognition. (And NO, Allan, we will not be making asparagus wine!)