by Richard Leahy | Apr 13, 2020 | Tastings/Evaluations, Varietals, Virginia Wine
Emily Pelton, winemaker at Veritas Vineyards, has earned a reputation for top Petit Verdot. Regular readers may recall that Veritas won the Monticello Cup almost 2 years ago for their 2015 Petit Verdot. I had tasted the Veritas Vineyards Petit Verdot 2010 Paul Shaffer...
by Richard Leahy | Sep 30, 2019 | Tastings/Evaluations, Varietals, Virginia Wine
As we know, 2018 was a very difficult vintage for Virginia vintners, but despite that, the industry has been through bad vintages before and I’ve never seen such a bad vintage that people worked so hard through to get such surprisingly good wines from. One of...
by Richard Leahy | Sep 6, 2019 | Regions & Terroir, Tastings/Evaluations, Varietals
For this early September Wine of the Week, I actually present two wines, both Rieslings, and both over a decade old. The dry version is Fox Run’s Reserve Riesling 2008 (Seneca Lake, New York AVA). Winemaker Peter Bell only makes a reserve in great vintages for...
by Richard Leahy | Nov 16, 2018 | Tastings/Evaluations, Varietals
Fun fact: more wine is purchased for consumption at Thanksgiving than at any other day in the year in the U.S. Now that Eastern wines are world-class, and since Thanksgiving was the original locavore feast (on the East Coast), it’s only appropriate to drink...
by Richard Leahy | Jun 13, 2018 | Tastings/Evaluations, Varietals, Virginia Wine
A recent visit to Fox Meadow Vineyards at the western edge of Fauquier County reminded me what a stunning view they have from their elevation of some 1,800 feet–and how that elevation is shown in their wines by way of bright natural acidity. Tasting highlights:...
by Richard Leahy | May 8, 2018 | Competitions, Tastings/Evaluations, Varietals, Virginia Wine
At a gala wine tasting and award ceremony at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville, the top awards were given between a field of gold medal winners for the Best White Wine and Best Red Wine, and Monticello Cup Winner for 2018. The Monticello Cup Winner for 2018 was...
