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By Walker Elliott Rowe
Special to the Rappahannock News
While the Queen of England was in Virginia to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the British settlement at Jamestown, a group of Virginia wine makers flew off to London to pour Virginia wines to members of the international press and noted European wine critics.
Hoping to grab media attention and prod Washington D.C. sommeliers into recognizing the fine quality of Virginia wines, a competition was held at White Hall Vineyards where the winning Virginia New World wines were packed off to the Old World Capital of European wine opinion: London, England.
A press release from Virginia Wine Experience in London reads, “All feedback received on Virginia wines was positive, but many were particularly impressed with the consistency of wine quality, the wines’ balance and dean fruit flavors, the restrained nature exhibited by moderate alcohol levels below 14 percent, which is unusual for New World wine, and both the diversity of and unconventional range of grape varieties such as the varietal petit verdot and the native norton grape.”
“As a result of this tasting, Virginia has clearly been established as a quality wine region in the minds of leading opinion shapers in the U.K. wine trade,” said Richard Leahy, executive director of the Virginia Wine Experience in London. “We made a distinct impression when it came to how leading British wine authorities saw Virginia wines stylistically. Virginia is both geographically and stylistically between Europe and the West Coast, and the tasters in London really understood that. Traditionally, the British think of American wines in the context of the West Coast, with higher alcohol and lower acid levels than we typically get in Virginia, so our wines are seen as a refreshing change.”
Several world famous wine critics were onhand to sample Virginia wines including Steve Spurrier and Hugh Johnson. Spurrier is best known as the wine critic who organized the famous Califomia-versus-France wine competition that launched California wines to world renown when the Americans soundly beat the Europeans 30 years ago. Hugh Johnson is best
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