The 5th
Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition was held July
18th and 19th, 2009 at the Regency
Country
Club at Dominion Valley. All 850 eastern wineries producing
grape
wines, including Native
American,
French Hybrid, and Vinifera, were invited to submit
entries to the
competition. The 17 wine states eligible for this competition included
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West
Virginia. All entry
applications were submitted by June
15th, 2009, and all wines were
received by June 30th, 2009 in accordance with entry
guidelines. 515 wine entries from 109 wineries in 11 states were entered in this year's competition. Twenty judges, representing all facets of the wine industry, performed blind tastings to select Best of Show, Best of Category, Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners. The Best of Show was a 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling from Chateau Lafayette in Reneau, New York. In total, there were 21 Best of Category, 29 Gold Medal, 101 Silver Medal, and 166 Bronze Medal winners.
The awards ceremony will be held on Capitol Hill under the auspices of the Congressional Wine Caucus. For additional information about the 2009 event, see the press release. Winning wines from the 2009 competition will be presented at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium and several other special wine tasting events in California, as well as a regional wine society reception in Virginia.
The following is a summary of previous competitions:
| Year |
Judges |
Press
Release |
Best of Show |
Medal
Winners |
| 2008 |
20 Biographies | 458 Wines, 100 Wineries, 12 States | Newport
Vineyards and Winery 2007 Riesling, Middletown, RI |
56 Gold, 120 Silver, 157 Bronze |
| 2007 |
20 Biographies | 450 Wines, 102 Wineries, 13 States | Fox Meadow
Vineyards &
Winery 2005 Cabernet Franc, Linden, VA |
32 Gold, 104 Silver, 161 Bronze |
| 2006 |
20 Biographies | ~300 Wines, 8 States | Osprey’s
Dominion Vineyard 2002 Reserve Merlot, Long Island, NY |
10 Gold, 56 Silver, 85 Bronze |
| 2005 |
20
Biographies |
319
Wines, 10 States |
Rockbridge
Vineyard 2002 Heritage, Raphine, VA |
13 Gold, 56 Silver, 132 Bronze |
The Vinifera Wine Growers Association is proud to announce that the 34th Virginia Wine Festival will take place on Saturday, September 19th, and Sunday, September 20th. The festival will be held at the Special Event Center of Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, Virginia.
The Virginia Wine Festival has become a grand Commonwealth tradition, highly regarded as one of the premier wine events on the East Coast. The festival, featuring many of Virginia’s award-winning wineries, popularly requested “Everything One Should Know about Wine” seminars, practical wine and food pairing demonstrations, choice gourmet offerings, the best of regional arts and crafts, along with top-rated entertainment and special children’s educational programs, is the perfect wine event to Celebrate Virginia Wine Month with tastings of the Commonwealth’s finest wines.
Mark your calendars and check our festival website!
All vendor, artisan, media, and sponsorship inquiries should be directed to Erika Johnson. If you are a vendor or artisan, please complete an application form. We would love to have you join us!
All should know that the ASWA is an all-volunteer, non-profit wine trade association that applies all of the funds raised as a result of the annual festival to public wine educational programs and other activities that help promote wine and health research and the growth and economic viability of the American wine industry, particularly the wine industry of the Commonwealth of Virginia.