- Hi, I'm Tassie Pippert.

And on today's show, the Virginia Governor's Cup.

We'll be talking with some of our favorite wine judges, and we'll taste some delicious wines that made the Governor's Case.

In the kitchen, some great food.

So go grab your glass.

It's time to Un-Wine'd.

- [Narrator] Production funding for Un-Wine'd was made possible in part by.

(funky music) - I had so much fun tasting through the Governor's Case and choosing some wines for today's show, some of the Case winners.

We'll also taste the Governor's Cup winner, the Passito, and pair it up with some amazing pears with mascarpone and raisins.

I had the chance to sit down with some of the Governor's Cup judges, including Jay Youmans, who oversees the Governor's Cup competition and the late Steven Spurrier, who was the person who brought us the Judgment of Paris back in 1976.

What an amazing man, who loved his Virginia wine.

So I hope you'll enjoy today's show.

Let's head to the kitchen and see what we're gonna make.

(bright music) I loved having the opportunity to pair some great gold medal winners.

And one of my favorites was this Petit Manseng.

So we're gonna make an Indian butter chicken to go with this.

We're gonna start off with a little bit of yogurt.

Now, what you do really with Indian butter chicken is you're going to make a nice marinade, it's always a yogurt based marinade, and then let that chicken sit overnight in the refrigerator, if you've got that much time, if not, at least an hour.

So I just put in some garlic.

I have a little bit of grated ginger root here.

Now I use about a tablespoon of ginger root, between a teaspoon and a half, two teaspoons, a tablespoon.

I really like that flavor of ginger root.

And then I'm gonna use some spices.

Now, these are typical Indian spices.

So we're gonna use, first of all, some cumin, a little bit of chili powder, some garam masala, salt and the little turmeric.

And I love turmeric, because it gives that wonderful orangy color and that great flavor.

So delicious.

All right, so we're just gonna take all of that mix it up and then add our chicken.

So we give this a good mix through, and then I have about two to two and a half pounds of de-boned, skinless chicken breast.

You can also use thighs for this, both worked beautifully.

And I've just chunked it into about two-inch pieces, nice big pieces, not full chicken breasts, not bite-size, but kind of in between.

(soft jazz music) And then we just wanna stir that through.

I'm gonna refrigerate it overnight, and then we'll be back to cook it on the stove top.

Now, as that chicken starts to become done, it doesn't have to cook all the way through yet.

We're gonna move it to a pan or a plate.

And you can see that we've got lots of little bits in the bottom of that pan.

I just love that.

It gives it so much richness in the sauce.

And then what I wanna do is add one large minced onion And let's give that a good stir through.

Now, you can see it's picking up all the color from those spices, just gorgeous.

And we're only going to stir this until it's just starting to turn translucent.

Now, because Indian food is known so much for their aromatics, what we wanna do is put our spices into the pan, so that they hit the heat.

So what we have here is some garam masala, some cumin, a little bit of coriander, salt, celery salt, a little dry mustard and chili powder.

I'm going to put in everything except the salt and the celery salt.

Let's just hit the pan with that.

It gives such a rich smell, wonderful, wonderful flavor.

All right, just toast them up ever so slightly.

Mmm, then let's add that salt and celery salt.

And then 14 ounces of crushed tomatoes.

Now, if you can't find a small can of crushed tomatoes, you can also use diced.

Now let's pour in one cup of heavy cream, try to get everything off of that spatula.

The last ingredient for the sauce is just a little bit of lemon juice.

I use about a tablespoon.

And then we're returning the chicken to the pan to continue cooking.

Okay, so at this point, it's just gonna simmer like about five minutes or so.

Smells so wonderful.

And I love the way it tastes.

So we're just gonna spoon out some of this wonderful chicken over some basmati rice.

So let's taste it with this Bluestone.

Oh, I love it.

It's a little warm yet to go in my mouth, but I do wanna taste this wine.

Beautiful Petit Manseng from Bluestone Vineyards.

It's a gold medal winner in the Governor's Cup.

Now, I had the wonderful chance to talk with some of the judges from the Governor's Cup, including the amazing Steven Spurrier, who only a couple of weeks later passed away.

So here in one of his last interviews, hopefully you'll enjoy.

(upbeat music) As you think about Virginia wines, what characteristics really set them apart from other ones that you've tasted even here in the United States?

- Well, I go into that on a later question.

I think moderation and balance and harmony.

And to me, harmony is the most important adjective to be applied to any wine which has aspirations to be described as a fine wine.

I think there's very little exaggeration.

I don't think the wine makers are looking for exaggeration.

They're not looking for fruit bombs.

They're not looking for show-off wines.

They're looking for wines which will impress, but impress by expressing, and not just impress by knocking you over the head.

So you'll have a wide range of varietals in Virginia, because, well, you have a coolish climate, and then you have two very hot months of the year.

But, basically, you can grow quite a wide range of varietals, and my favorites, I choose two in each category, are Valentino, by far for the weight, and Petit Manseng.

Petit Manseng you can do an awful lot with.

Is it Shaps?

- [Tassie] Yes, yes, Michael Shaps.

- [Steven] He does extraordinary things with Petit Manseng.

And it's a rare grape variety.

It's only grown in Southwest France, and where it makes Manseng, and a few other really, hardly even talked about wines, but you have... Virginia has brought it to visibility.

And so within the reds, I go very much with Cabernet Franc, 'cause I love Cabernet Franc anywhere, but your Cabernet Francs are, in my view, the best in America, Petit Verdot.

And Petit Verdot, again, is a little, well, it's probably just 5% of the Bordeaux Vineyards, and not much planted elsewhere in France, because it doesn't ripen.

It needs warmth to ripen.

And it was described by (indistinct) of Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande as kind of the nuts... Whatever tightens nuts.

- Bolts.

Nuts and bolts (laughs).

- That's right.

But it tightens everything up, you add 5% Petit Verdot to a blend, and it just tightens everything up.

Well, you have several 100% Petit Verdots which are really quite dramatic wines.

They're not heavy in terms of being bulky and weighty, but they're very dramatic in flavor.

And so those are my two picks.

- Oh, I love it.

And Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot are two of my very favorites.

And I think back about the Petit Manseng, and with Michael Shaps, and Jeff White up at Glen Manor, amazing Petit Manseng.

And they do a work with it, so that it can be a sweet wine or a lovely dry.

- Yeah, sweet or dry.

Absolutely.

And both Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot are very good blend of grapes.

- Yes.

Blending is one of the...

I think it's one of the advantages in Virginia and Napa.

They do go for a 100% Cab or 100% this, obviously.

And you even blend your Chardonnay with Sauvignon, which I think is very nice, because Sauvignon brings the acidity.

You know, blending, or not afraid to blend, or blending to advantage is a very important point.

And these wines are made to be drunk.

They're made to be enjoyed with, I think, with food, mostly.

But of course, if I were in a bar in Richmond, I go straight for a glass of Vermentino, preferably from Barboursville.

- Yes!

- No reason why you can't drink them on their own.

- Well, I know that the judging for the Governor's Cup is coming up.

When you think about judging the Virginia Governor's Cup, are there any other competitions that you judge that you feel are similar, or does Virginia judge differently?

- Well, I have to be very direct about this.

I really loathe judging on the OIV scale.

That to me, that page of boxes you put a tick is completely against my feelings about judging wine, because it tries to tie you down to sort of...

I mean, you should not tick boxes when you judge wine.

You should judge mine as it is.

It's supposed to be typical.

It should represent its grape variety.

It should represent its region.

It should represent its vintage.

And I refused... Well, the last OIV conference judging I went to was Meiningers, about 20 years ago.

And I just don't do that anymore.

So that's my only reticent complaint.

Well, it's just not a way I like to judge, because it takes a lot of time to tick those boxes, to add the numbers, and then, of course, you write your notes.

And your notes is the most important thing, but your numbers are added up, and, of course, that's what makes the wines get where they do, but it's a complete distraction, in my view.

And so to answer your question, the Governor's Cup is unlike any other competitions I judge at, because I won't judge competitions with the OIV scale.

- Oh, I love that.

I love that.

Well, and I think it's important, when you sip the wine, you taste the wine, you're judging the wine on its own merits, and not just on a tick list.

- To put Virginia wines on the map, you can do a judgment of North America, and you take your award-winning wines you've taken from the Governor's Cup, and hopefully you've got a spread of varietals, and you match those were varietals from the same varietals across North America, particularly Canada, 'cause of its cool climate.

And therefore, if you're Cabernet Francs do well, or if you're Petit Manseng, of course, they will do well, because almost a learner, but it'll position you in North America, and that's where you want to be positioned.

I don't see Virginia wines exporting very much.

I know that Chris tried to expose them to the UK, and had a very good reception.

I remember the tasting that he put on at Vinopolis, which would have been at least 10 years ago.

And there was just a handful of us wine writers there, but there was Hugh Johnson, and Andrew Jefford, and Oz Clark.

And we all were very impressed.

So it's not the wines, it's the visibility.

- Right.

- We've come back to where we started.

I'm European and I like the Europeanness of Virginia wine.

- That's wonderful.

Well, again, thank you so much for taking time with us.

This has just been a joy for me.

- It's been a pleasure.

(audience applauds) - So Jay, tell me a little bit about how the Governor's Cup got started, how you play that part, that role in it.

- Sure.

Well, the Governor's Cup has been going on for, I believe, 39 or 40 years.

- Wow.

- It's one of those two.

So it was started long before I got involved.

I've run it for 10 years now.

- [Tassie] Wow.

- David King from King Family Winery, David sadly passed a few years ago, approached me about taking over the competition and kind of tightening up a little the rigor, you know, around the tasting and the selection of the judges.

So that's what I did.

And I mean, they had very specific ideas about what they wanted to do.

- Right.

Wow, well, I noticed that you had an extra large number of wines to try this year.

Was this a record year?

- It was a record, 544 wines and ciders and meads.

It's the most ever.

And, you know, I think part of that was because...

I think some of these wineries were not having the visitors that they normally would have, and we're looking for different ways to maybe promote their wines.

- [Tassie] Sure, well, were there any specific standouts this year, or any that you were particularly disappointed by varietal?

- You know, I would say, yes, a number of categories really stood out.

There were a lot of really good wines submitted.

You know, there's a been a lot of talk about the dessert category, because, you know, that's what... Barboursville had three wines in the top 12, and the wine that won the whole thing was a dessert wine.

And, you know, the debate is, you know, that's great.

That's not really reflective of what is selling, you know?

There were seven or eight world-class dessert wines, but as any of these producers will tell you, you know, they're great to have, especially at wine dinners and things, but that's a category that's just not very fashionable right now.

Every year, the blended reds what made with Bordeaux varieties are always, you know, a lot of what we see.

And this year there were some exceptional wines.

And just the same as European wines, particularly French wines, they're a little more restrained and they're not as high in alcohol.

They're not usually as oaky as what you might see from the West Coast.

Not that those wines aren't great, but I agree with you.

I think Virginia makes some amazing wines that pair with food really, really well.

(calm jazz music) - This Petit Verdot by Veritas is so rich and wonderful and it goes really great with pork, and especially with a little bit of Mexican seasoning.

Now, this is not a spicy pork, but it has all of those wonderful flavors of Southwest and Mexican foods.

So I hope you'll enjoy it.

First thing we're gonna do is start with a pork shoulder, and I just want to take a knife and just insert.

And then I'm gonna take some slices of garlic, and just slide those garlics just right into place.

Just slip them right down inside the pork.

Now I take about 10 cloves of garlic per pork shoulder.

Now, the next thing I'm gonna do is put it over in a pan, lightly salt and pepper the top, and then I'm going to cook it until it's brown on both sides.

And I'll be right back.

(meat sizzles) So I've moved our pork that's been browned on both sides to the Crock-Pot.

Now you can make this in a Crock-Pot, you can leave it on the stove to simmer or you can put it in an oven to braise.

Super easy recipe.

Now we're gonna take some spices.

I have some oregano here and some adobo, a little bit of smoked paprika, some turmeric and some cumin, and then a couple of bay leaves.

We're just gonna pour that all over the top, just to kind of season through.

I'm just gonna give it a little rub there.

Now I wanna take about a quart of chicken stock, and this I'm actually going to pour right over top.

I'm sort of washing off the spices and putting them down in.

There we go.

All right, so about a quart.

Nice strong chicken stock, delicious.

And then I wanna add two chipotle peppers.

Now you can use more than this.

If you want to use just one, you can do that as well, but I like the flavor of the chipotle pepper, but I don't use the whole pepper.

I'm going to pull those out when this is all finished, so that they're not adding that heat, because when you have a red wine, you don't want to overheat.

Those tannins and those spices can fight with each other, but with just the right combination, they're delicious.

Now, if you're choosing to use this without the wine, add all the adobo and all of the wonderful chipotles as you want.

So I'm gonna let this simmer on low for 10 hours.

(calm music) So the pork is done.

You can see that it's just falling apart, and we're just gonna take a couple of forks, and start shredding it a little bit.

Now, this is easy to do.

You can do it with forks.

There are tools out on the market, but I just use my forks.

I think it's so easy.

And because this is just fall apart done, it's simple to do.

Now, I keep that juice until I am serving the pork, because I want to make sure that the pork is nice and moist.

And as I pack it away, if there's any leftover, I always pour a little bit of that juice over top.

And I made grit cakes to go with this pork for today.

And I used a little bit of that in my water to make a delicious grit.

(calm music) So this beautiful pork with this grit cake.

Now, this just makes it a little more elegant than a barbecue sandwich or a taco, but this is amazing in taco shells.

It's wonderful in a flat tortilla.

And it's fantastic on a bun.

So any way you choose.

And then I love to serve just a little bit of Southwest kale salad with it, with just a touch of chipotle dressing, that's been diluted with a little bit of olive oil, so it's not overpowering.

So wonderful.

And with this Veritas Petit Verdot, the flavors just blend so well.

It's absolutely incredible.

And I hope you'll enjoy it.

I'll be right back with some amazing pears.

(cheery music) I love this Passito.

It is so amazing.

And it's just great with pears.

So I'm going to do a little Passito pear that's stuffed with some mascarpone and raisins.

So the first thing I wanna do is just to cut a couple of pears into straight down the center, and you wanna take a melon baller and just kind of scoop the little bit of stem and all of the seeds out.

Now, it's important that these pears are nice and ripe, because if they aren't, it takes a long time for them to bake.

And it's just hard to get everything out of the center.

I'm just trying to be very careful there.

And then I wanna make sure that I take out that little stem end right down there.

All right, now, while I'm doing all this, I'm going to warm up some butter and melt some brown sugar.

So what I'm doing here is just making a little bit of a caramel sauce that will be in the bottom of the pan for baking my pears.

Now, the next thing I wanna do is take some Passito, and I have soaked one cup of raisins in about a third of a cup of Passito.

And I'm just gonna pour that Passito right into my pan.

We're gonna reserve those wonderful raisins for our mascarpone.

Now let's just drop those pairs into pan.

And then let's give them a little bit of a baste before we put them in the oven.

Right at the last second, we're gonna hit with just a little bit of lemon juice.

Stir through.

Then we'll pop these in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

While those pears are baking, I wanna make my mascarpone.

Now I have about a pint of mascarpone, and then I'm gonna take those soaked raisins.

And I soak these about an hour, so they have a lot of that wonderful Passito flavor in them.

And I'm just gonna stir that through.

Now let's grab those pears.

I was so honored to be able to pair up the Governor's Cup winner with my food.

So I hope this does it justice.

I believe it does.

So I'm going to take one of those pear halves, and let's just put it on our plate.

Cut side up.

Now let's take a scoop of that mascarpone Be generous.

It's wonderful.

It's almost like putting ice cream on your pears, and then we'll take a little bit of amaretti cookie and just crumble right over the top.

And then I wanna take a little bit of that sauce and give my plate a drizzle.

This is an amazing dessert.

Let's pour out some of that wonderful Governor's Cup Passito.

It's sweet and delicious.

Ah.

Perfect with these pears and with that mascarpone.

So I hope you'll it enjoy it.

(funky music) Well, thanks so much for joining us for a fun day with these Governor's Case winners.

And of course, this beautiful Passito, which won the Governor's Cup.

So I hope you've enjoyed all of these foods I've paired with them today.

To find all of the recipes, go to vpm.org/unwined.

And until next time, I'm Tassie Pippert, saying go grab that glass.

It's always time to Un-Wine'd.

- [Narrator] Production funding for Un-Wine'd was made possible in part by.

(funky music)