It’s not often you get to sip local-ish wine at a semi-formal event at the US Capitol, but that’s exactly what I was able to do this past week.

The event in question was the annual Jefferson Loving Cup Trophy award ceremony, sponsored by the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA) and hosted by the Congressional Wine Caucus. Guests were able to enjoy light bites and tastings of over 45 wines, including the ASWA’s 2023 Best of Show and Best of Category winners.

It would be easy to poke fun at Congress for taking time off for a wine event on the eve of a shutdown, but for this event I’ll give them a pass. After all, the wine industry contributes an estimated $276 billion to the U.S. economy annually and creates the equivalent of almost two million full-time jobs. That’s a lot of $$$, especially for enterprises that are often based in rural areas.

More importantly for me, these particular wines all hailed from the east coast; specifically the 14 states that touch the Atlantic, plus Pennsylvania, Vermont, and West Virginia. Altogether, this area produces around 45 million gallons of wine annually.

That sounds like a lot, but it’s still just over 6% of total US wine production. That’s a splash compared to the west coast’s 90% market dominance – and exactly why the ASWA’s role is important.

West coast brands hog up much of the wine world’s shelf and advertising space, so east coast regions need an organization to advocate for them. Bonus points for how the ASWA highlights grapes that would otherwise be overlooked (hello petit verdot and petit manseng).

Mike Thompson (D-CA) stopped in for a few minutes and joked how the Congressional Wine Caucus was one of the largest such caucuses, in no small part because it’s far easier to negotiate over a glass of wine than behind a desk. After a few remarks, we kicked off the “Best in Class” awards.

We were lucky to have a number of local growers in attendance. I didn’t catch everyone’s name, but I did get to see Jason Murray and Sandy Gray-Murray of Arterra Wines, Shannon Horton of Horton Vineyards, Mark Ward of Pearmund Cellars/Effingham/Vint Hill, Jeremy Ligon of Barrel Oak Winery, and Emily and Kenny White of Chateau Merrillanne, amongst others.

I know the Pearmund ‘family’ must have been exceptionally excited that three separate wines won Best in Class in their categories; their 2022 Petit Manseng and 2022 ‘Celebration’ from Effingham, and the “Misty” from Vint Hill.

Mark joked that one of his hardest jobs is to decide if he should make wine that he likes vs what the public likes. His palate preferred drier wines, but these would make those with a sweeter palate happy.

One winemaker that was new to me was Tom Shelton of Bordeleau Winery, located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Bordeleau won not just Best in Class for their “Lot Number 3” Non-Vintage Petit Verdot, but it went on to win the overall “Best in Show”.

This PV is a rare example of a non-vintage wine. Tom explained he recognizes that Maryland’s variable climates creates ‘peaks and valleys’, making it difficult to produce stylistically-similar wine year after year. To get around that, he makes all of his wines non-vintage, with the exception of a few whites.

This particular PV used fruit from 2016, 2017, and a bit from 2019. I was struck by its smoothness and complexity; it had just enough fruit to make it pleasant but it still had a tannic backbone. This was their 3^rd petit verdot.

My other favorite wines were Horton’s 2019 Albariño, the 2021 Chardonnay from Fox Run, Herron Hill’s 2020 Pinot Noir (both in the Finger Lakes), plus several sparklings (of course).

I also got to try Fifty-Third Winery’s 2021 Norton, which I had just written about. Norton is a love-it-or-hate-it grape but I was pleasantly surprised by its smoothness, so I can understand why it was awarded “Best Norton” at the separate Norton Cup event last year.

While Bordeleau Winery’s Petit Verdot was the star, plenty of other wines were recognized. The 2023 ASWA competition awarded 33 “Best of Class” wines from amongst 455 entries.

In addition to popular categories such as Best of Class Bordeaux-style wine, chardonnay, and sparkling, they also had winners for various categories of mead, sweet wine, fruit wine, cider, hybrids, and other vinifera wines.

Here is an abbreviated roster. To see ASWA’s entire medal list, check out the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association’s press release, or visit https://aswawines.org.

Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association Best of Class Winners (abbreviated)

1. Albariño 2019 Albariño Private Reserve by Horton Cellars Winery, VA
2. Bordeaux-Style Red Blends 2021 Founded 1734 by Chateau MerrillAnne, VA
3. Cabernet Franc 2021 Cabernet Franc Reserve by Fifty-Third Winery & Vineyards, VA
4. Chardonnay 2020 Chardonnay by The Winery at Sunshine Ridge Farms, VA
5. Merlot 2015 Reserve Merlot by Ospreys Dominion Vineyards, Ltd., NY
6. Other Red Vinifera Varietals 2021 Tannat by Arterra Wines, VA
7. Petit Manseng 2022 Petit Manseng by Effingham Manor Winery, VA
8. Petit Verdot NV Petit Verdot by Bordeleau Winery, MD (Best in Show)
9. Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio 2022 Pinot Gris by Harvest Ridge Winery, DE
10. Riesling 2021 Semi-Dry Riesling by Fox Run Vineyards, Inc., NY
11. Sauvignon Blanc 2022 Landmark Sauvignon Blanc by Boordy Vineyards, MD
12. Seyval Blanc 2021 Seyval Blanc, Barrel Oak Winery, VA
13. Sparkling Vinifera Wines 2022 Sparkling Riesling (String of Pearls) by Idol Ridge Winery, NY
14. Viognier 2022 Viognier by Ashton Creek Vineyard, VA