Virginia wine seems to excel in certain varieties. Petit Verdot, Petit Manseng, and Cabernet Franc often come to mind. Tannat and Albariño are up-and-comers, from what I’ve seen.

But if you had told me Virginia was a hotspot for its Sauvignon Blancs, I’d have been…skeptical. The 99 acres currently in the state (according to 2023 figures) is a fairly large planting, but it seems to trail other whites in terms of awards. Only over the last few years have Virginia Sauv Blancs really surged in recognition.

That’s fairly surprising, as I’ve had a number of excellent examples. Linden and Walsh Family often come to mind, but I’ve found others that are also lovely. Unfortunately for me, the Sauv Blancs I most gravitate towards tend to be high-acid, mineral-driven Sancerre styles, which are tough to find in Virginia.

So when the 2025 San Francisco Chronical (SFC) Wine Competition gave two “Best in Class” awards (out of 5 Sauv blanc price categories and 198 bottles) to Virginia Sauv Blancs, and a 3^rd Virginia wine was runner-up for one of these “Best in Class” awards, I was equally surprised and thrilled.

The competition judges seemed equally surprised. SFC wine judge Mike Dunne said of Virginia’s entries; “Each year, some wine region of North America sems to gain recognition for a disproportionate share of high awards at the San Francisco Chronical Wine competition. In 2024, it was Virginia”.

Tasting & Scoring Methodology

Every round my guests picked a favorite. After we finished all 8 wines, we voted to decide the Top 2 of the day. By coincidence we had a tie in picking which to go into the Top 2, so Top 2 became Top 3. We took a food break, then revisited the Top 3 finalist a second time

Caveat; there are a few other excellent examples that could have been used here. But being in NOVA my selection tends to be NOVA-heavy. Moreover; I don’t pretend what we chose were the “best”. I’d say that these were the “best” this day, but on another day or vintage, we may have selected differently.

The Contenders:

1. The Winery at LaGrange 2021 Sauvignon Blanc (Washington State fruit)
2. Glen Manor Vineyards 2023 Sauvignon Blanc
3. Veritas Winery 2023 Sauvignon Blanc (2025 SFCWC Best in Class/$30-$34.99)
4. Linden Vineyards 2021 Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blanc
5. Walsh Family Wine 2023 Bethany Ridge Sauvignon Blanc
6. Capstone Vineyards 2023 Sauvignon Blanc
7. Barrel Oak Winery 2023 Sauvignon Blanc (2025 SFCWC Best in Class/$34 and up)
8. Endhardt Vineyards 2023 Sauvignon Blanc (2025 SFCWC Double Gold/$30-$34.99)

Flight #1

• Bottle #1: LaGrange 2021 Sauvignon Blanc (Washington State) (7 votes, round winner)
• Bottle #2: Glen Manor 2023 Sauvignon Blanc

While the original plan was to do all Virginia wine, we didn’t realize that the LaGrange’s fruit was sourced from Washington State. Oh well; it was made in Virginia, at least.

Looking back we were surprised that #2 was a Glen Manor wine; we thought we’d have enjoyed it more since they have a great reputation overall, but this one wasn’t a favorite.

Bottle #1 / LaGrange 2021 Sauvignon Blanc. This was our “patio wine”. Round; good finish and balanced. Somewhat golden in appearance. Someone mentioned green apple on the palate, plus notes of lime.

Bottle #2 / Glen Manor Vineyards 2023 Sauvignon Blanc. Aromatic and pale. Multiple people commented how fruit-forward this wine was. One said it was like ‘pop rocks on your tongue’. Cameron mentioned the citric acid was too high for his preference; maybe they let the fruit hang too long?

Votes:

1. Matt: Voted #1
2. Sarah: Voted #1
3. Laura: Voted #1
4. Isabel: Voted #1
5. Emily: Voted #1
6. Cameron: Voted #1
7. Ashley: Voted #1

Flight #2

• Bottle #3: Veritas Winery 2023 Sauvignon Blanc (3 votes)
• Bottle #4: Linden Vineyards 2021 Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blanc (4 votes; round winner)

This was the favorite round for several attendees. Stylistically speaking, this was a “patio wine” (#3) vs a “dinner wine” (#4) comparison, and attendees tended to vote according to that preference.

I had more tasting notes than I could easily write down; the mark of a good round.

Bottle #3 / Veritas Winery 2023 Sauvignon Blanc. Lighter in acid, but the acid was definitely there. Comments including grapefruit, green apple, honey, and lime notes, but none were overwhelming present. I felt it had honey and grapefruit qualities.

It had great complexity, which opened up as the chill came off. It was very bright once it warmed up.

Bottle #4 / Linden Vineyards 2021 Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blanc. This was the fullest wine of the day, with more ‘aged’ and/or barrel notes (but definitely not newer oak). A few mentioned it had a caramel finish. Others mentioned candied lemon, stone fruit, hay, and herbs on the nose.

Votes:

1. Matt: Voted #4
2. Sarah: Voted #4, although #3 was ‘like a rave on the palate’
3. Laura: Voted #4
4. Isabel: Voted #3
5. Emily: Voted #3
6. Cameron: Voted #3
7. Ashley: Voted #4

Flight #3

• Bottle #5: Walsh Family Wine 2023 Bethany Ridge Sauvignon Blanc (4 votes; round winner)
• Bottle #6: Capstone Vineyards 2023 Sauvignon Blanc (3 votes)

Bottle #5 / Walsh Family Wine 2023 Bethany Ridge Sauvignon Blanc. Peppery! Notes of honeysuckle and lemongrass on the nose and palate. Tart, citrusy and grassy on the palate. The tartness threw some people off. Smooth texture.

Bottle #6 / Capstone Vineyards 2023 Sauvignon Blanc. Pineapple and mango were mentioned. Had weight. Long lingering finish. We speculated these tropical notes indicated this was the Washington State wine we accidentally included in the lineup (nope; 100% grown in Virginia).

Votes:

1. Matt: Voted #6
2. Sarah: Voted #5
3. Laura: Voted #5
4. Isabel: Voted #6
5. Emily: Voted #5
6. Cameron: Voted #5
7. Ashley: Voted #6

Flight #4

• Bottle #7: Barrel Oak Winery 2023 Sauvignon Blanc (4 Votes; Winner)
• Bottle #8: Endhardt Vineyards 2023 Sauvignon Blanc (3 Votes)

If Round #2 was the group favorite, this round was a close runner up. It also contained a SFC Best in Class ($35 and up), and a Double Gold (which was runner up for the Best in Class) winner.

Bottle #7 / Barrel Oak Winery 2023 Sauvignon Blanc. The color was very light and the nose wasn’t overly aromatic, but this wine packed a punch! Well balanced; notes of citrus and lemon were especially mentioned. I could have written more notes, but I was too busy just enjoying it.

Bottle #8 / Endhardt Vineyards 2023 Sauvignon Blanc. Had a ‘new tennis ball’ aroma to it. Bigger in body and more fruit forward than what we’d seen in the lineup so far (right below #4). Someone mentioned a note of vanilla cream at the end. Apricot on the nose and white peach on the nose and palate. Also well balanced.

Votes:

1. Matt: Voted #8
2. Sarah: Voted #7
3. Laura: Voted #7; liked its smoothness
4. Isabel: Voted #7
5. Emily: Voted #8
6. Cameron: Voted #7; said it had a ‘crescendo’ of different fruits
7. Ashley: Voted #8

Finalist Flight

• Bottle #3: Veritas Winery 2023 Sauvignon Blanc
• Bottle #4: Linden Vineyards 2021 Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blanc
• Bottle #7: Barrel Oak Winery 2023 Sauvignon Blanc

We tried to narrow it down to a “Top 2”, but we loved several so much I decided to add a 3^rd glass to the finalist round. We ended up with #3/ #4/ #7 going into the finals.

#8 was also well loved, narrowing missing the finalist round (I tried, but got outvoted). #6 received a handful of votes as well.

We tasted the finalist and I awarded 3 ‘points’ for people’s 1^st place choice, 2 points for 2^nd place, and 1 point for 3^rd place choice.

The final tally was 15 points for Barrel Oak, 14 points for Veritas, and 13 points for Linden. The 2023 Barrel Oak Winery Sauvignon Blanc was the overall favorite of the day.

1. Matt: Voted #7 / #4 / #3
2. Sarah: Voted #4 / #7 / #3. Felt #4 was the most complex; liked the ‘barnyard’ and hay qualities.
3. Laura: Voted #7 / #3 / #4. Felt #7 was refreshing and smooth, but enjoyed the balance and dryness of #3.
4. Isabel: Voted #3 / #7 / #4. #3 had developed a sweetness she liked
5. Emily: Voted #3 / #4 / #7. Agreed that #3 was landing sweeter, while #7 was more consistent.
6. Cameron: Voted #7 / #3 / #4. Really liked the complexity of #7.
7. Ashley: Voted #4 / #3 / #7. Really liked the soft, caramel finish of #4.

I asked Barrel Oak winemaker Jeremy Ligon about his 2023 Sauv Blanc, and he shared these tech notes:

“In 2023 we partnered with a local vineyard in Paeonian Springs Virginia to bring in their beautiful Sauvignon Blanc. We harvested 7.57 tons on 8/31/2023. This Sauvignon Blanc is grown at over 700 feet in elevation with rolling hills with ideal airflow and soil conditions. We produce a Sauvignon Blanc that showcases Virginia Terrior, which is closer to a New Zealand style Sav Blanc than California, but still with its very own uniqueness. This Sauvignon Blanc is fermented and aged in 100% stainless steel, we forego malolactic fermentation to retain malic acid creating a bright and crisp wine.”

SFC described the Barrel Oak wine as “ripe and round” and “fleshy and saturating”, while the Veritas was “lithe, dry, citric, and astonishingly persistent”.

Lessons Learned:

A few observations:

The first is the Virginia Sauv Blancs were tried were very reflective of the specific site they came from. This resulted in an assortment of stylistic differences, with some presenting as West Coast-ish, a few as Bordeaux Blanc-ish, and others not fitting any particular regional profile (although none we had today were New Zealand or Sancerre-ish).

That’s not to say Virginia *must* fit into any stereotype. Virginia wine must represent Virginia; not try to copy someone else. Yet the variation was so dizzying that I couldn’t guess these wines were from the same state.

My second observation was how people seemed to separate these wines into ‘dinner’ and ‘patio’ styles, the former being ‘bigger’ and the later easier drinking. My group’s voting tended to fall along these preferences.

My last observation is I was very impressed with the judging of the San Francisco Chronicle. Wine judging in general can be very hit-or-miss, as I’ve seen the same wines get Bronze in one competition but get Double Gold (!) in another, or ‘shiners’ with the same wine but different labels get different scores.

But this time, 3 of the 4 top wines we tried today (except Linden, which doesn’t do competitions) were all Double Gold winners from the 2025 SFC wine competition. Except for Linden, none of the other wines were even close.