Announcing Virginia's Top Wines

    CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, April 11, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Ivy Life & Style Media, publishers of Wine & Country Life, is pleased to share their coverage of the prestigious Virginia Governor's Cup Awards celebrating Virginia's best wines. For the first time in the Virginia Governor's Cup history a woman received the highest honor with two other women also included in the top 12 Governor's Case making it a historic year for Virginia wine. The Virginia wine industry combines agriculture with rich roots stretching back to founding father Thomas Jefferson and now spans the entire state. Virginia is home to 11 wine regions, which include more than 300 wineries and over 4,000 acres of grapes.

The 40th Governor's Cup competition received a record-breaking number of entries, with submissions of 615 wines from over 100 Virginia wineries. Twenty-five cider- and wine-tasting experts served as the panel of judges. Golds, Silvers and bronze awards were scored and awarded to vineyards. To choose the Governor's Cup Case, 12 of the judges returned to taste the gold medal wines to select the 12 best wines, and the wine with the highest overall score won the Governor's Cup.

The coveted 2022 Virginia Governor's Cup, honoring the best wines of Virginia, went to Cana Vineyards and Winery of Middleburg for their 2019 Unité Reserve. The wine is their signature estate red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Winemaker Melanie Natoli is the first female winemaker to win this award, and the celebration held at Richmond's Main Street Station became a historic event for the Virginia wine community. Natoli has received other recognition for her work in the barrel room. in 2017, she became the first Virginia winemaker to be named Winemaker of the Year at the Women's International Wine Competition. As women entrepreneurs ourselves at Ivy Life & Style Media we're excited by this win for Natoli. Seeing Rachel Stinson of Stinson Vineyards and Emily Pelton of Veritas Vineyard & Winery on stage and included in the Governor's Cup Case made the night even more meaningful.

It was a surprise for all in attendance to learn that the state's favored grape, the Viognier, only received one gold. That Gold was awarded to King Family Vineyards. Dominating the Governor's Cup Awards was meritage. The rich Bordeaux-style blend of red grapes made up 7 of the 12 bottles honored in the prestigious Cup Case.

Wine & Country Life magazine, founded by Robin L. Bethke and Jennifer Bryerton, highlights the top crafters of the Commonwealth's best wines and the artisans who give voice to the terroir of the Commonwealth. In addition to expansive coverage of the wineries, Wine & Country Life also celebrates the elegant country lifestyle of the region including features on topics from equestrian life and outdoor entertaining to gardening, travel, vineyard travel experiences, the arts, farm-to-table food and more.

To learn more about Virginia wineries, including artisan profiles, special vineyard experiences, wine pairings tips, luxury country inns of wine country and much more, visit Wine & Country Life. https://wineandcountrylife.com. For more information, interviews and professional images, please email co-Publisher Jennifer Bryerton at [email protected], or call us at 434-984-4713.

From Ivy Life & Style Media, founded in 1998, publishers of Wine & Country Life, a semi-annual luxury magazine of Life & Style in Virginia wine country, Wine & Country Wedding Planner, an annual art book celebrating elegant country weddings in Virginia, Wine & COuntry Gold Book an annual luxury wine journal and tand CharlottesvilleFamily Life & Home Magazine, a bi-monthly parenting magazine.

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