Friday FunDay: Winemakers Come Together for Good at the Generous Pour

What is a wine benefit gala like? This question is pretty simple to answer – it was one of the most fun wine experiences I’ve had. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I’d warned my wine friends that I’m not into overly “peopley” spaces. But the Virginia Wine Benefit’s signature annual event was an absolute blast, and is one I’ll definitely attend again!

Kathy, Kenny and I had been talking about this for a while, since Kathy is on the VWB Board. As I shared in the previous post, this event raises funds for the Virginia Winemakers Research Exchange and several other charities. There were a ton of great items in the silent auction, and fortunately for my marriage I was repeatedly outbid on a few items. These items ranged from tasting packages and vineyard tours to one year memberships in various wineclubs. I thought I was going to get a $325 gift card to the Ivy Inn for about the same price, but I was outbid by several people after I walked away from the table, and it went to someone else. The Board did a fantastic job gathering all the auction items, and there were a number of very popular ones that repeatedly got bids.

Hubby was supposed to come, and wound up in a work conference early Saturday morning, so he was asleep at home by 7:30 this evening. As a result, my +1 for the evening was our friend Cindy, who understood the assignment and kept me from buying too many auction items. It wasn’t easy, cause there was great stuff on that table AND in the live auction.

The setup for the event created a festival atmosphere – about 20 wineries were represented, pouring their wines for attendees – the tastings were included in your ticket prices. In most cases, the winemakers themselves were doing the pourings. We gravitated immediately on entry to Ankida Ridge and Stinson, pouring near the entrance. We had amazing Rosé of Pinot Noir and Rosé of Tannat.

We moved to the central area where many wineries were pouring. I saw Kendall from Bull Run who was at the previous weekend’s Tannat tasting and chatted with him about the wines he brought. AJ was there from Hark pouring their fantastic 2023 Rosé, 2023 Cabernet Franc and 2019 Spark. That was a great lineup! Lee Hartman was next to her – he had a steady stream of customers, so I didn’t get to visit with him, but they’re quite a pair.

Over the course of our time there, between sampling cookies from the hors d’oeuvres table, circling the silent auction table to watch my bids, and sampling wines, we ended up sipping a ton of wine. RdV was there with Rendezvous and Friends and Family, which was I didn’t expect – these are fantastic wines, and I find once again that I honestly prefer the simpler presentation from Friends and Family to the bolder complexity of Rendezvous. We visited with Jake Busching and Athena Eastwood, so I got some Cheninquisition and Eastwood 2022 Gold Medal Petit Verdot. We also got to check in on Paradise Springs and their PvT (a Tannat and Petit Verdot blend that was stunning) and Blenheim, where Tracey Love was pouring with winemaker Kristy Harmon. Joy Ting was pouring her 2021 Petit Manseng and a lovely 2022 Tannat (this was really fantastic and enjoyable, and quite different from the bolder Tannats of last weekend).

As we went back to the tables, we stopped at Jump Mountain. At one point, a commenter on social media suggested Jump Mountain as a spot to visit, and I filed that away in some dusty, infrequently accessed part of my brain. Here they were, and they had sparkling. Kenny, my friend Cindy, and I said our hellos and held our glasses out for some sparkling Gruner Veltliner. This was amazing.

I was very impressed by this – I don’t believe it was holding residual sugar, but it presented with some sweetness that wasn’t overpowering and balanced nicely with the acidity of the wine. We loved this sparkling, and Kenny and I concluded that a visit to Jump Mountain will be required in the not too distant future. We also loved the 2021 Borderland blend. Heavy on Tannat, with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon balancing it, this drank beautifully. The Shenandoah Valley is clearly calling my name.

Once we’d visited almost all of the tables, we decided to enjoy some Stinson Sparkling Mourvedre and watch the live auction. This is where the real fun began and some incredible items were auctioned off.

Items like an evening at the Stinson Inn with a welcome reception, the Veritas Guesthouse, a visit to Ankida Ridge with a ride up to the top of the mountain for incredible views and great times with Christine, a vineyard tour with Jake, and a day of fun on a bus tour of Monticello AVA wineries with AJ and Lee were auctioned off. The coup de grace was of course the King Family Cellar Tour with Mathieu Finot where you get to choose a barrel of wine, design a label, and have it bottled for you to keep all twenty cases. This of course, went for more than I could pay, but was an absolutely incredible prize, and I admit to significant jealousy here.

Having so many winemakers and industry folks in one space sets the stage for an incredible evening.

I’m thrilled to have brought home the tour and tasting package for 6 at King Family, and will be dragging hubby and some wonderful folks along for that at some point this summer. This overall experience was an incredible one, and I am so happy to have attended. I’m really looking forward to next year’s event too, and I hope this brief summary convinces you to go. The opportunity to bid on one-of-a-kind experiences, sample fantastic wines, and visit and talk to the people whose work yields our favorite bottles, is the best ending to your week. I really hope to see you there next time!