Results from the Oregon vs. Virginia Viognier and Cab Franc Tasting
Last month I was invited to participate in a Virginia vs. Oregon blind tasting featuring two of my favorite grapes — Viognier and Cabernet Franc. Yes, Viognier and Cabernet Franc from Oregon — that state best known as one of the top Pinot producing regions in the US (and perhaps the world).
The tasting included six Viogniers and six Cabernet Francs from Virginia and southern Oregon, three wines from each state included in each flight.
This bi-coastal event included two groups — one in Virginia and one in Oregon — that tasted each flight simultaneously. The Virginia judging contingent gathered at The Wine Loft in the Short Pump area of Richmond, VA. My fellow judges from Virginia were:
- Bartholomew Broadbent of Broadbent Imports (on Twitter: @BollewBroadbent)
- Christine Lezzi from the Country Vintner
- Booth Hardy, owner of The Barrel Thief wine shop (on Twitter: @BarrelThief)
- Emily McHenry, Sommelier, The Wine Loft (on Twitter: @TheWineLoftRVA)
Avid collector, wine consultant, and mathematician Neal Hulkower, PhD, selected the three Viogniers and three Cab Francs from Southern Oregon for the tasting. Neal, Hilary Berg, Editor of Oregon Wine Press (on Twitter: @OregonWinePress), and other wine and food professionals gathered 2,900 miles west of Richmond at the offices of the News-Register in McMinnville, OR.
On the Virginia side, Annette Boyd, Director of the Virginia Wine Board Marketing Office and Richard Leahy, author of Beyond Jefferson’s Vines organized the event and carefully selected the Virginia wines for each flight. Annette and Richard also masterfully managed logistics during the tasting to keep both groups on schedule.
Both flights were tasted blind and the judges were not told which Virginia or Oregon wineries or wines the organizers included in the tasting.
Rather than using one of the traditional scoring systems — 100-point scale, Davis 20 point, etc. — to determine the rankings and winner in each flight, we used a consensus-based ranking system called the Borda Count method. With the Borda method, judges can use the scoring system of their choice — 100-point scale, Davis 20 point, 10 stars, 5 corks, or whatever — and then ‘rank‘ the wines based on those scores (their favorite wine ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.).
After each judge ranks their favorite wines by preference (1st, 2nd, 3rd, …), the Borda score is calculated for each wine via a simple formula, n-1 (where n is the total number of wines in the flight). The wine with the highest total score is the winner; the wine with the second highest total score is ranked 2nd, and so on.
Both of the two blind wine competitions that I judge each year use the Davis 20 point scale for scoring, which, in my opinion, is the most straight forward of the many different numerical scoring systems out there, however none of the numerical scoring systems are as mathematically fair as a ranking system like the Borda Method.
Tasting co-organizer Neal Hulkower writes in the February 2012 issue of American Association of Wine Economists, ‘The Borda Method is the most mathematically defensible method for combining individual rankings of wines to arrive at an aggregate ranking.‘
Though I agree that the Borda Count method of ranking is effective at reducing the skewing that can result from significant scoring fluctuations between judges when a traditional numerical scoring system is used, I personally feel that a simple 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., ranking (what I call racking & stacking) method is equally effective. (* For a more in-depth analysis of the Borda method, I recommend reading ‘Borda is Better‘ written by Neal in the Oregon Wine Press.)
The first flight of the tasting featured Virginia’s official signature state grape, Viognier. Once the judges rankings were collected and the Borda scores calculated, the bottle bags were removed and labels revealed — not surprisingly Virginia’s Viggy showed exceptionally well, placing #1 and #2 in overall scoring:
- King Family Vineyards, 2011 Viognier (VA)
- Narmada, 2010 Viognier (VA)
- Spangler Vineyards, 2011 Viognier (OR)
- Troon Vineyard, 2011 Viognier (OR)
- Michael Shaps, 2009 Viognier (VA)
- Del Rio Vineyards, 2010 Viognier (OR)
On my personal score sheet, the Spangler Vineyards 2011 Viognier from Oregon finished 1st, followed by the King Family 2011 Viognier from Virginia, and the Narmada 2010 Viognier from Virginia finished 3rd.
As a fan and avid consumer of Virginia wine, I have to admit that I was surprised that an Oregon Viognier finished #1 on my score sheet (suppose this is a benefit of a blind tasting). Given the aromatic and flavor profile of the Spangler Viognier I thought for sure this was a Virginia Viognier. On my scoring sheet notes I guessed this to be a Viognier from Keswick Vineyards. Missed that one by about 3,000 miles. D’oh.
A disjointed mix of muted fruit and a pungent alcohol taste landed the Michael Shaps Viognier at the bottom of my scorecard. I am generally a fan of Michael’s wines, in particular his Viognier, but the last two bottles I’ve opened have been equally unimpressive.
I visited Oregon in August for WBC12 and tasted a number of nice Viogniers, but did not taste one Cab Franc that I can recall so I was looking forward to this flight. Since the cabernet franc grape does well here in Virginia and is arguably used to produce some of the state’s most notable wines, I fully expected Virginia to run the table in this flight.
Once the rankings from all 11 judges were tallied, Virginia’s Sunset Hills 2009 Cabernet Franc finished atop the Cabernet Franc flight.
- Sunset Hills, 2009 Cabernet Franc (VA)
- Spangler Vineyards, 2009 Cabernet Franc (OR)
- Troon Vineyard, 2010 Cabernet Franc Reserve (OR)
- Jefferson Vineyards, 2010 Cabernet Franc (VA)
- Cliff Creek Cellars, 2007 Cabernet Franc (OR)
- Barboursville, 2009 Cabernet Franc Reserve (VA)
Like the Viognier flight, the wine from Oregon’s Spangler Vineyards (on Twitter: @SpanglerVyds) finished #1 on my score sheet for the Cabernet Franc flight. Oregon Pinot-centric wine fans looking to expand their palates should look south and check out Spangler Vineyards. Founded in 2004 in Southern Oregon’s Umpqua Valley, Spangler Vineyards focuses on growing Bordeaux and Rhone grapes.
The Jefferson Vineyards and Sunset Hills Cab Francs finished in a tie for the #2 spot on my personal score sheet.
When the wines for this flight were revealed, I was shocked to see the Barboursville (on Twitter: @OctagonVA) Cabernet Franc Reserve in bag #5. An excellent wine and a personal favorite, the Barboursville Cab Franc Reserve was surprisingly near the bottom of the ranking. I should note that this same wine was selected as the favorite cab franc over the Bernard Baudry Les Grezeaux Chinon at the Virginia Wine Summit a few weeks earlier so I will chalk this up to a bad day for this particular bottle (or, perhaps I was suffering from a case of aromatic dyslexia 😉 ).
Overall, the wines from both states showed well, but on this day the 11 judges preferred the wines from Virginia. Although it’s impossible to declare any wine as the best wine, such blind comparative tastings do help to significantly reduce the biases we all hold.
The results of this tasting serve as yet another example of how Virginia wine stacks up to similar priced wines from larger, more notable regions.
Many thanks for Neal, Richard, Annette, my fellow judges and everyone else that participated to make this a memorable event.
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HELLO.I loved this article. A great overvirw. In some cases the results were spliting hairs as they say, and I for the most part will pay serious attention to Oregon Viogniers and Cab Francs. I though VA would rule the day. While VA showed well, I think this is an excellent case of keep your mind open and let taste be your guide. Thanks for a great article
Thank you, Annette. Appreciate your work in making this tasting happen. In looking at the aggregated scores, will admit that I am surprised how close the Viognier flight scoring was. Both sides did a great job selecting solid wines. And, once again, this tasting demonstrates how Virginia stacks up (and excels) against equally priced wines from more recognized regions.
Great article. I love how blind tastings can throw us off…
Many thanks, Oliver, for stopping by. I too appreciate how the blind tastings can throw off our biases. Curious if you’ve tasted many 2011 Rieslings (that are available here in the US) and that you highly would recommend. In early stages of birth year collection to hopefully open in 2032. Cheers!
An interesting article. Thank you for writing this review. What was the criteria for selecting wines from Virginia and Oregon or was it a general representation?
Thank you, Chris. The wines from Oregon were selected by Neal Hulkower – from his Oregon Wine Press article on the tasting: “The Oregon contenders were picked by me after sampling a wide assortment and include three medal winners including one that was Best of Class in the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.”
Five of the six Virginia wines are Governor’s Cup medalists but I am unsure what specific criteria Richard and Annette used to select the wines. The criteria was probably noted at the beginning of the tasting but I missed it. I will check and get back to you.
Hope we can connect in London in April if you are there. All the best in 2013!
Hi Chris,
The eligibility for Virginia cabernet francs was based on their being gold or silver-medal winners in the 2012 Governor’s Cup competition and on availability.
Cheers,
Richard
Thanks for clarifying, Richard. Hit tip on organizing a great tasting.
Great article, Frank. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Cab Franc or Viognier from Oregon, but I’d sure like to try one now.
Last week, at the Virginia Vineyards Association’s winter technical meeting, we participated in a tasting of six Viogniers, two vintages each (10 and 11) from three Virginia wineries: Veritas, Barboursville and Keswick. The great thing about it was that winemakers from each of three discussed viticulture and winemaking issues while we tasted. Not exactly a blind tasting, but quite a good educational experience.
I truly believe that Virginia can make a world class wine with the Viognier grape, and I’m glad we’ve planted that (along with Cab Franc and two other grapes) in our little hobby vineyard.
BTW, I scored Veritas 2010 highest, but it was a close race as you might imagine, considering the quality of all three wineries.
Hi Bob – Thanks for commenting. I’d recommend that you check out Spangler Vineyards Viognier and Cab Franc as well as the Matello Viognier. Both are gems from a region so focused on Pinot.
Wish I could have made the VVA event and tasting. I always enjoy tasting along side winemakers for a real discussion about their wines when tasted along with other wines (wish I could have more of these tastings). Very educational.
All the best in 2013!
I am surprised! I had no idea you could get a Cab Franc from an Oregon winery. Viognier from Virginia is definitely one of my favorites though. What a great tasting event!!! Great article!!! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jean – Hope all is well, thanks for stopping by to comment. VA Vio is one of my favorites as well — and adding several Oregon Viogniers to the list as well.
Frank, A fun post highlighting two varietals from two states. I had never drunk an Oregon Cabernet Franc until a few weeks ago when I opened the 2010 Memaloose, Estate Cabernet Franc. This bottle was quite interesting. I’ll certainly be looking for more Oregon Cab Franc during my next trip to Seattle.
Aaron
Thanks, Aaron – appreciate the feedback. Need to double-check my notes but I believe Memaloose was poured at WBC12 (though I thought they were a WA wine). Give the Spangler Vineyards CF on your next trip — would be curious to hear your thoughts. Cheers!
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