Monthly Archives: January 2025

Virginia Wine Wins Big in San Francisco

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The Governor’s Cup may be Virginia wine’s best-known event, but the wine world is full of wine competitions large and small. Two of the most prestigious are held annually in San Francisco nearly back-to-back.

The most recent San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (SFCWC) and San Francisco International Wine Competition (SFIWC) collectively reviewed well over 7,000 wines from 20 countries. Some of the best judges in the industry sampled everything from classic chardonnays and red blends, esoteric hybrids, to fruit wines and vermouths.

30 Virginia wineries and cideries entered these events, earning a total of 182 medals. Of these, 22 were Double Gold and 38 were Gold.

A number of these Double Golds earned top honors in their respective categories. The SFIWC awarded Vint Hill’s Covert Wineworks “Madison” 2023 Story Petit Manseng “Best White Wine in Show”, as well as “Best Other White Varietal”. The SFCWC gave “Best in Class” awards to 6 of Virginia wines.

One of the judges at the SFCWC summarized his view of Virginia’s impact with this statement:

“Each year, some wine region of North America seems to gain recognition for a disproportionate share of high awards at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. In 2025, it was Virginia” SFCWC wine judge Mike Dunne, on Virginia’s entries

While not all wineries enter major competitions, they nevertheless provide an important metric on how Virginia wine fares on the international stage. These competitions also provide increased visibility, marketing value, and bragging rights to those who do well.

I asked Mark and Maggie Malick, former owners of Maggie Malick Wine Caves, their view of these events. Maggie once earned Best in Class/Double Gold at the 2021 SFCWC for her 2017 Tannat, and Double Gold for her 2014 Tannat at the 2017 SFIWC.

According to Maggie, “They’re both big hitters. Judging is pretty strict in both. If you enter a Virginia wine and beat another country, you’re doing good.”

Biggest Winners at San Francisco

Winning Gold is a major kudo at either the SFCWC or SFIWC, but Virginia’s haul of 22 Double Golds and numerous “Best of” awards is especially impressive for a wine region that makes less than 0.3% of the nation’s wine production.

It’s too much to describe every one of these Double Gold winners. But if I were to narrow it down to a handful of the Virginia’s ‘biggest winners’ by winemaker, winery, or as a category that deserves highlighting, these are my picks:

  • Mark Ward, Winemaker for Effingham, Pearmund, and Vint Hill. Mark took home 5 Double Gold and 5 Golds between the SFC and SFI events. His Vint Hill 2023 Petit Manseng also earned “Best White Wine in Show” at the SFIWC. He’s been the head winemaker for the “Pearmund trifecta” since 2020.
  • Jeremy Ligon, Barrel Oak Winery. Jeremy was awarded a Best In Class/Double Gold for his Sauvignon Blanc (in the $35 and over category), Double Gold and runner-up for Best of Class for this dry Rosé, Double Gold at the SFI for his sparkling Norton, and three Golds.
  • Philip Carter Winery. PCW earned two SFCWC Best in Class awards, for its Nomini Hall Cabernet Franc ($35.00 – $49.99), and Chardonnay ($38.00 – $42.99). Matthieu Finot is their winemaker.
  • Veritas Vineyard. Emily Hodson of Veritas earned SFCWC Best in Class awards for her 2023 Sauvignon Blanc ($30.00 – $34.99) and 2023 Monticello White ($31.00 and over White blend), plus four Golds.
  • The 2023 Vintage. 2023 is the kind of high-quality vintage that is often only seen once a decade. Virginia wine lovers already knew this, but now the rest of the world does too.

    It’s notable that 28 of the 59 Virginia wines (discounting one that used fruit from the west coast) that earned either Gold or Double Gold came from this magical juice. So far, most of what’s been released were white wines. That means our recently bottled reds are going to be making incredible waves on the competition circuit, once they are unleashed.

  • Virginia Sauvignon Blanc. I admit, I didn’t see this one coming. Yet it’s important enough to warrant its own mention, because the respective winemakers deserve it.

    Virginia earned two SFCWC “Best in Class” awards for Sauvignon Blanc; Barrel Oak ($35 and over) and Veritas ($30.00 – $34.99). Endhardt earned a Double Gold and was runner-up to Veritas for its Upper Block Sauvignon Blanc.

    This is a massive win for a category that is usually dominated by California. If we kicked-ass in Sauv Blanc, think of what the rest of the 2023 vintage is going to do.

    The SFCWC website had this to say on these Sauv Blancs:

    “At the 2025 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, two of the five best-of-class Sauvignon Blancs were from Virginia, an unprecedented showing. (In all, 198 Sauvignon Blancs were in the competition.)”

    “The Barrel Oak the richer, riper, and rounder of the two, its fruit fleshy and saturating,” while saying of the Veritas, “The wine is frank, lithe, dry, citric and astonishingly persistent for a Sauvignon Blanc. Its perky acidity makes it a perfect match for raw oysters.”

San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (SFCWC) and San Francisco International Wine Competition (SFIWC) combined roster

WineryWineAwardCompetition
Barrel Oak Winery2023 Sauvignon BlancBest of Class/DG ($35 & over)2025 SF Chronicle
Barrel Oak Winery2023 “Paradox” sparkling NortonDouble Gold2024 SF International
Barrel Oak Winery2023 RoséDouble Gold
(Dry Rosé: 0 RS, $30 & over)		2025 SF Chronicle
Eastwood Farm and Winery2022 Cabernet FrancDouble Gold
(Up to $34.99)		2025 SF Chronicle
Eastwood Farm and Winery2022 Petit VerdotDouble Gold
(Up to $45.99)		2025 SF Chronicle
Effingham Manor Winery2021 “King’s Ransom” red blendDouble Gold2024 SF International
Endhardt Vineyards2023 Upper Block Sauvignon BlancDouble Gold ($30-$34.99)2025 SF Chronicle
Fifty-Third Winery and Vineyard2021 “Rock Ridge” red blendDouble Gold
(Red Blend: Petit Verdot leading)		2025 SF Chronicle
Greenhill Winery & Vineyards2022 “Eternity” Cabernet FrancDouble Gold
(Cab Franc $50 & over)		2025 SF Chronicle
Ingleside VineyardsNV “October Harvest” dessert wineDouble Gold
(White Dessert/Late Harvest – RS >3.5)		2025 SF Chronicle
Jefferson Vineyards2023 ViognierDouble Gold2024 SF International
Pearmund Cellars2022 Cabernet FrancDouble Gold2024 SF International
Pearmund Cellars2023 Petit MansengDouble Gold2024 SF International
Philip Carter Winery2023 “Nomini Hall” Cabernet FrancBest of Class/DG ($35-$49.99)2025 SF Chronicle
Philip Carter Winery2023 “Shirley” ChardonnayBest of Class/DG ($38-$42.99)2025 SF Chronicle
Slater Run VineyardsRosé of MerlotDouble Gold2024 SF International
Trump Winery2022 Reserve ChardonnayBest of Class/DG ($30-$34.99)2025 SF Chronicle
Trump Winery2018 Estate Blanc de BlancDouble Gold2024 SF International
Veritas Vineyards2023 Sauvignon BlancBest of Class/DG  ($30-$34.99)2025 SF Chronicle
Veritas Vineyards2023 Monticello WhiteBest of Class/DG (White blend: $31 & over)2025 SF Chronicle
Vint Hill2023 “Madison” Petit MansengBest White in Show / Double Gold2024 SF International
Vint Hill2023 “Vivian” ViognierDouble Gold2024 SF International

Background On The 2025 SFC and 2024 SFI Wine Competitions

Virgina SF International and-Chronicle Medals 2021 2025 v4Download

The 2025 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (2025 SFCWC) reviewed 5,500 wines submitted from over 910 wineries throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, making it the largest wine competition in North America. 4,991 medals were awarded.

There are often multiple awards for the same variety or style for different price brackets. The “Best in Class” award goes to the highest-scoring bottle within that price bracket. It additionally has a “Sweepstakes” award to identify the top wine from among the “Bests” in different categories (no Virginia wine won this category this year).

The wines were judged in mid-January, and the results were released on 17 January 2025.

The 2024 San Francisco International Wine Competition (2024 SFIWC) reviewed wine submitted from 20 countries. 1590 medals were awarded to 476 wineries.

The wines were judged in mid-December, and the results were released on 13 January 2025.

Note on the Virginia medal winners: The La Grange Winery Syrah that earned Gold in the 2025 SFC used non-Virginia fruit. The other 59 Golds/Double Golds all used Virginia fruit. The ‘182’ medals includes 16 wines made using non-Virginia fruit. I include these numbers here only for the sake of being complete.

Jeremy Lingon, BOW
Slater Run Vineyards

Exploring Local Sake With Charlottesville’s North American Sake Brewery

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Several years ago while visiting wineries around Charlottesville, I encountered a curious sight. In the city that is the epicenter of Virginia wine was…a sake brewery.

What? Sake??? In Virginia?

Yet thinking about it, my surprise was misplaced. Sake exports from Japan have more than doubled from 2012 to 2022, according to figures provided by the Japanese Sake & Shochu Makers Association. Not only is the US the world’s top sake importer, there’s a growing local sake industry as well.

Charlottesville based North American Sake Brewery is one of only 20 or so sake breweries in the US, and the first (and only) in Virginia. Founder and head brewer Andrew Centofante gave me a lesson on sake brewing and a tour of his facility.

“Sake is such a fascinating and historic beverage. It’s a pretty niche market, but it’s one of the fastest growing beverages there is,” Andrew said during our interview. “As people explore Japanese cuisine, they are finding sake is a key part of it.

About 15 years ago, I went to an “izakaya” (casual drinking establishment) in Japan,” he continued. “The bartender walked me through different styles, regions, and profiles of sake, and it hit me that sake was similar to the craft beer movement. A few years later, I started making sake at home, and that led me to go back to Japan to work at a 200-year old brewery outside Osaka to learn the craft.

We’ve been open since 2018, making very traditionally handcrafted sake as well as some experimental styles.”

Defining Sake: Beer? Rice Wine? Or Something Unique?

The four basic ingredients for sake are rice, koji, water, and yeast. Of these, koji is likely the ingredient least-understood by American audiences.

Koji is a mold, cultured in hot, humid conditions to promote propagation. It’s an integral part of many of Japan’s most famous drinks and dishes, including sake, miso, and soy sauce.

Brewers apply the mold to rice, ensuring it’s thoroughly spread over every grain. When the brewing starts in the tank, the mold provides the enzymes to convert the rice starch into sugar. This sugar is then devoured by the yeast, which turns it into alcohol.

This process is called “multiple parallel fermentation,” and it’s what makes sake brewing unique.

While sake is usually referred to as ‘rice wine,’ that definition is a misnomer. Sake is its own category of alcoholic beverage, despite often being classified as either a wine or beer in the western world.

Andrew gets the question of, “Is sake a rice wine?” all the time. “Like wine, you can sip it, savor it, pair it with food. Sake is the same way. It has nuance of character, but the process is grain based, so it’s much closer to brewing than winemaking.

While they use similar processes, sake and beer come out at very different strengths. Since sake usually has around 15% alcohol and is sipped like wine, it’s often classified as rice wine.”

Balancing Creativity With Tradition

Unlike wine, which is ‘terroir’ driven, sake is more brewer-driven, according to Andrew.

“We talk a lot about the concept of intent in sake making. That’s what makes sake a difficult beverage to understand.”

The brewer’s treatment of their rice greatly influences the end product, a process called milling.

“Milling is where we remove fats and other proteins to get to the grain’s “shimpaku,” or starchy core, and it helps delimitate the style of sake you create,” Andrew explained while showing a handful of rice grains. “The more milled the rice is, the fruitier and more aromatic the end product is. The less it’s milled, the more earthy and savory notes you’ll get.

“Daiginjo” (50% milled) sake rice on the left, and sushi-grade rice on the right

The kind of rice you use is important, but think of it like a white canvas. It’s the brewing that helps bring out the nuanced flavor and aroma.

We get our rice from Arkansas. The farm we use has been making sake-specific rice for years. Sake rice is a short-grained style, usually with a great shimpaku that’s easy to mill and melts well in the tank.”

Japanese sake already comes in many different styles, based on the ingredients and production methods used. Local producers like North American Sake aren’t afraid to get even more creative to appeal to American consumers.

Andrew pondered my question regarding how far local sake diverges from what’s found in Japan before answering.

“It’s an interesting question. The sake industry in North America is so young, there aren’t defined styles of sake in terms of regionality. Being in the US, we have this huge opportunity to break out of traditional sake conventions.

We play on the edge of what sake is, and make everything from super-premium to fun, table sakes. There are people who are casual drinkers who just want something fun, or something gluten free.

For this crowd we make fruited styles using regional fruits or herbs, we make sparkling sake, and we’ve done collaborations with different brewers to make hopped sake.

But we also have customers who are looking for great sake. Since we’re in the game of making sake, we have to be as good or better than any Japanese sake out there.”