This weekend I did a vertical blind tasting of several of the most famous Virginia wineries, plus a Bordeaux for comparison. It was one of the most enjoyable (and most expensive) tastings I’ve ever done. While Virginia wine is rarely famous outside the state, these three are among the few wineries that have name brand recognition with critics everywhere.

I could argue it was for the sake of education. Or for science. Or to test the price point of different wines. But in truth it was all about curiosity; what it’s like to taste some of the best wines in the state at once in a blind tasting.

Jim Law of Linden Vineyards is said to have a “kind of this Eastern philosophy of sit on the porch until I invite you in mentality”. Potential students must not only prove their seriousness in pursuing viticulture, but also promise to contribute to the Virginia wine industry for at least two years after their apprenticeship. Perhaps his two greatest students were Jeff White of Glen Manor and Rutger de Vink of RdV.

I called this event “Jim Law & Friends” because it includes wines from all three. Even today they maintain strong ties, providing advice on weather and growing conditions. I’ve also heard stories of how Jim hosts a recurring wine dinner with these friends to taste the great wines of the world (no I haven’t been invited and I’m a little cross about that).

Some friends and I had some 2015s available and felt it was a good vintage to do a comparison. The numbers correspond to the bag number; everything was done blind. The Bordeaux was added for comparison.

We tasted these wines over the course of almost 3 hours, which allowed us to follow their evolution as they opened up. Each winemaker had strong connections to the other, but the Virginia wines were still very distinct. While these wines also trend ‘Old World’ style, the Bordeaux was definitely the outlier.

• 2015 Lost Mountain $150 (RdV, 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Cab Franc, 3% Merlot). This wine had a distinct black pepper note that persisted over the course of the evening.

• 2015 Hardscrabble $65 (Linden, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon/35% Merlot/19% Cab Franc). The lightest and smoothest of the evening, likely because it was the least Cab-heavy. Some earth and fruit notes in equal proportion.

• 2015 Chateau Giscours $75 (Margaux, 3^rd Growth Bordeaux, 70% Cabernet Sauvignon 25% Merlot, 5% Cab Franc). The mustiness of this wine was very noticeable when we first opened it up. It started as one of our least favorites, but as time passed and it opened up we liked it more and more, perhaps surpassing some of the others.

• 2015 Hodder Hill $50 (Glen Manor, 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 15% Petit Verdot). Slight must on the nose, and an earthy undertone.

Which leads us to the big question – which was our favorite?

Well…there’s no easy answer to this one. I tasted with 3 friends, and we were all over the map in terms of favorite. I took three polls at 30 minute intervals until we unveiled them. I assigned a ‘point’ for each vote.

• Trevor: Trevor was the most consistent. He voted for wine #4 (Hodder Hill) all three times. So Glen Manor 3 points.

• Matt: I was torn between wines 2 & 3 (Linden and the Bordeaux). I actually disliked the pepperiness of wine #1. While I liked wine #4, it wasn’t quite as smooth as the other two. My first vote was for wine #2, then #3, then back to #2. Linden 2 points and Bordeaux 1 point.

• Ryan: Ryan felt the wines hadn’t opened up sufficiently to vote in the first round. Overall he seemed to favor wines #1 and #3 the most. He felt there was a lot of potential for the Bordeaux, but it needed more time than what we had for it to reach its full potential. But he did vote for wine #1 once and split his vote between wines #1 and #3 in his last vote. RdV 1.5 points, Bordeaux .5 point.

• Dan: Dan was all about wine #2. He picked a favorite early on and stuck with it, although he did like the others. He stopped drinking early on but he did vote for wine #2 twice. Linden 2 points.

So the tally was this: Linden 4 points, Glen Manor 3 points, RdV 1.5 points, Bordeaux 1.5 points.

On paper you might say that Linden was the favorite. But perhaps a better question is this: When was each wine a favorite. Because time made a huge difference.

I suspect had we let these wines breathe for several hours in advance, our scores would have been very different. On the second and third votes I was torn between Linden and the Chateau Giscours, and only narrowly chose Linden on the 3rd. Ryan likewise felt that the Bordeaux was peaking late, while the Linden peaked much earlier. Perhaps being the most ‘blended’ helped its scores?

It’s also important to admit that given an extra hour or two, I’m fairly certain I would have favored the Bordeaux. While I didn’t enjoy the black pepper notes of the RdV, that is simply a stylistic preference of my own that in no way implies I didn’t like it or it wasn’t an excellent wine.

So does this mean Linden was the ‘best’ wine of the night? Absolutely not! Given a few extra visitors the final scores would almost certainly been different.

But hey – if anyone wants to break out their fancy wine, I’d happily help you drink it!