I was sent the dozen finalists chosen from more than 430 entries in the 2016 Virginia Governor's Cup wine awards and share my impressions below.
I don't think I agree with the choice of the top wine, and found some wines in this collection that seemed a bit 'industrial' to me, but perhaps that's inevitable in a relatively young wine industry. I was surprised to find oak chips cited in the background information on vinification for a couple of these wines as I rather thought we had moved on from needing the flavour of oak at all costs. Producers in...