
Virginia Governor's Cup
The Competition
Preliminary Round
Over the course of 10 days, each wine is tasted by 7 judges. This is a single-blind tasting, meaning that judges only know the grape or category of a wine, but the vintage, winery and name are hidden behind coded-glasses.
Finally, individual judges' scores of a wine are averaged into one score after the lowest score is dropped.
Final Round
Over the course of 3 days, 12 judges assess the highest ranking wines from the preliminary round. Unlike the preliminary round, each judge samples all of the Final Round wines.
Each wine in the Final Round receives a final average score after lowest is dropped. The 12 wines with the highest average score are identified as the "Governor's Cup Case."
The wine with the highest overall score is the Governor's Cup Winner.
Judging Criteria
Judges will use the 100 point scale, as used by Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits, and many others, to rate the most outstanding wines Virginia has to offer.
Tasting Notes
Our esteemed judges assemble tasting notes for each wine commenting on:
- Appearance Clear or dull, color, intensity, any other visual observations
- Aroma Descriptors as to clean or faulty aromatics, fruit, floral, vegetal, spice, oak, chemical, animal, and intensity
- Flavor Character of the alcohol, acidity, body, tannin, oak, fruit, floral, vegetal, spice, oak, chemical, animal, and intensity
- Overall Quality
- Commercial Suitability
Rating Scale
The numerical rating will be used to determine medal winners and advancement to subsequent round.
The Awards
Once the judging is complete, the average wine score will be used to determine if it qualifies for a medal, and the highest 12 ranking red and white wines will become the Governor's Cup Case.
-
Gold Outstanding/Classic
90-100 points -
Silver Very Good
85-89 points -
Bronze Good
80-84 points
Best in Show Cider
Beginning in 2021, Virginia cider is judged in its own category. Judges are selected based on their passion, experience, and understanding of the cider category. Each cider is scored using a 100 point scale. After tasting through all the entries, the top six scoring ciders were identified. The judges then retasted (blind) and ranked their favorites from 1-6. The highest-rated cider will win the Best in Show Cider award.
The Judges
Meet this year's judges; a world-class panel with decades of experience.
Judge Categories


Bartholomew Broadbent
Bartholomew founded Broadbent Selections in 1996 and today, among the 39 wineries he represents, Broadbent is especially known for importing the finest of the finest wines from South Africa, Lebanon, New Zealand and Portugal. Bartholomew has been a wine speaker for most of the major cruise lines and wine festivals. He lives in Richmond, Virginia and has a very strong passion for Virginia's wineries.

Matthew Brown

Emmanuel Dabney

Kristi Delovitch

Maria Denton

David Denton
Amie Fields

Jerry Gibson

Tara Hardiman

Caroline Hermann

Erica Jeter
Richard Leahy

Dave McIntyre
Pocket Guide to Wine.
Dave was co-creator of Drink Local Wine, an organization that highlighted the growth of local wine industries around the United States. He was honored by the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association in 2010 with its Wine Grape Productivity Tray and in 2014 with its Monteith Trophy for his support of the regional wine industry. Dave has participated in and moderated wine presentations for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Associates program. His charitable work supports the American Heart Association.

Vanessa Moore

Frank Morgan

Ray O'Mara

Lindsey Parris

Thad Parsons
Through his work in Crystal City and beyond, Thad has been a consistent advocate for local beverages, low-intervention production, and multi-channel commerce for small wine businesses. He has been active with Virginia Wine for years and has personal connections with many local producers that supply the Shop. The Shop believes that wine should be approachable and easy to access, which means that people should be able to purchase it with as few barriers as possible. Thus, the Crystal City Wine Shop was a pioneer in Virginia with on-demand alcohol delivery in 2018. Thad continues to work with industry leaders to bring the newest technology and brightest ideas to the local neighborhood bottle shop.
Outside of the beverage industry, Thad was a museum professional in the D.C.-area. Originally a North Carolina native, he moved to Alexandria, VA after graduating with a DPhil in Modern History from the University of Oxford, UK. While he no longer works with the history of science, he still believes in the power of stories. He lives with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs in Alexandria, VA.

Winn Roberton
After a stint of wine study in California, Winn returned to his native Washington, DC to open Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak DC in 2008. There he works with a world-wide wine list featuring affordable finds up to aged first-growth Bordeaux. With a passion for teaching, Winn looks forward to staff training at Bourbon Steak as well as outside engagements.

Greg Trevarthen

Kasia White

Kathy Wiedemann

Jay Youmans
Judging Director
