Seven Virginia Wineries Win New Old Town Sommelier Awards

At Old Town Alexandria Wine Festival

 

Alexandria VA - As part of the Old Town Food & Wine Festival, Chefs and Sommeliers of Alexandria restaurants participated in a private tasting of 95 wines submitted by Virginia wineries for a new wine award - the Old Town Sommelier Award.

This award is different than your typical swirl, sniff 'n sip wine competition. The Old Town Sommelier Award is designed to have culinary professionals, who have a commercial stake in selling wine, judge Virginia wines based on their marketability to customers in a restaurant. The wines were judged on several factors including sight, aroma, taste, quality, price, branding and packaging.

In addition to receiving a glass to evaluate the sight, smell and taste of the wine, participating chefs and sommeliers were presented with a package that described each wine including the type or varietel, vintage year, the wine's branding/label, the wine's identity or blend, the residual sugar, the bottle size and the wholesale price.

Armed with that information, the judges went to work choosing those wines that would pair well with food offerings, present well when brought to the customers' table, be priced right for selection from a wine list, and "wow" restaurant customers with sensory characteristics.

Seven winners emerged from the wines submitted for this tough and unique competition. Inaugural winners of the Old Town Sommelier Award are:

2007 Horton Vineyards Viognier,
2008 Ingleside Vineyards Pinot Grigio,
1995 Oasis Vineyards Chardonnay Barrel Reserve,
2006 Prince Michel Vineyards Cabernet Franc,
2007 Pearmund Cellars Petit Verdot,
2007 Mountfair Vineyards "WoolooMooloo" (Best Blend),
2002 Breaux Vineyards Nebbiolo - Best of Show

The Old Town Wine Festival also featured another unique competition - an East Coast vs. West Coast Smackdown session led by Wine Coach and author, Laurie Forster. In this rare taste-off, 100 festival guests conducted their own blind tasting of two Virginia wines pitted against award-winning wines from the West Coast.

Two wines were chosen from the festival floor to compete. Virginia 's Delfosse Cabernet Franc held its own in a head-to-head tie against an award-winning Cabernet Franc from Sonoma . And, Virginia 's Horton Vineyards Viognier won by a landslide (97 out of 100 votes) against a big name Washington State Viognier.

Recently named " America 's most promising, emerging wine region" by Wine Spectator Magazine, Virginia is certainly turning some heads as it comes of age on the world wine stage.

The Old Town Wine Festival was hosted by the Farm Wineries Council of Virginia and sponsored by The Washington Post, the Old Town Alexandria Holiday Inn, Old Town Crowne Plaza Hotel, Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association, Reston Limousine and Viking Appliances.

Embrace Virginia wines on Saturday, October 24, 2009, from 11am-6pm, at Powhatan Festival of the Grape, in the county's historic courthouse square. The event features 23 Virginia wineries, arts and crafts, gourmet food, and the music of Steve Bassett and Ammon Tharp and Mystic Soul Bubbas, plus Michelle Nixon & Drive and the Janet Martin Band. www.PowhatanWineFestival.com.