A Toast to the Williamsburg Winery for a Platinum & Four Golds at International Competition

Raise a glass to Petit Manseng!

Better yet, take a sip of the Williamsburg Winery’s 2019 Petit Manseng, which achieved the Platinum Award at the 2021 Winemaker Challenge International Wine Competition.

You could call the 13th annual event the Academy Awards of wine judging. Medal winners are determined after judges sample thousands of entries via blind taste testing. The 2019 Petit Manseng earned 94 points and is one of only two wines in the Commonwealth to earn a Platinum Medal. Overall, 51 wines received Platinum status.

“This is the only competition in America that’s judged exclusively by other winemakers, and that’s one of the reasons we like to enter it,” says Kenny Bumbaco, Vice President of Direct Wine Sales at the Williamsburg Winery. “It’s pure peer review.”

The judges’ tasting notes refer to the Petit Manseng as “a very interesting variety that you may not have had a chance to taste, and here’s a solid example worth seeking out. Floral and hard candy aromas lead to a palate that delivers the candy vibe with just a bit of residual sugar and leaves you with a zesty scour and a floral impression. I can see this flying out of the tasting room.”

The Platinum Medal is the Williamsburg’s Winery’s second overall. The 2010 Trianon also received the honor.

Four additional Williamsburg Winery entries earned gold medals this year.

· 2019 Viognier Wessex Hundred Virginia

· 2019 Cabernet Franc Virginia

· 2019 Rkatsiteli Limited Release Monticello

· 2019 Petite Fleur Limited Release Virginia

The Platinum and Gold Medal winning wines are available for purchase online and at the winery’s Retail Shop. These award-winning wines are only available for purchase in a five-bottle bundle.

“This is the only way to purchase two of the wines as they haven’t been released yet,” Bumbaco says, referring to the 2019 Petit Manseng, which will be release to the public on June 4, and the 2019 Viognier, which will not be released until fall 2021.

Three Williamsburg Winery selections received Silver Medals: the 2019 Chardonnay Wessex Hundred Virginia, the 2017 Merlot Reserve Virginia, and the 2019 Petit Verdot Wessex Hundred Virginia.