New Kent vintner takes a top prize

A RESERVE chardonnay produced by the four-year-old New Kent Winery, which is just off Interstate 64 about 50 miles west of Norfolk, was awarded the 2011 Virginia Governor's Cup for white wines in a ceremony last week in Richmond.

This was a big win for a veteran but relatively un-heralded winemaker who is one of the state's best - Tom Payette. His business card may list him as a consulting winemaker, but he takes primary responsibility for New Kent wines. He was also the talent behind the bordeaux-style blend from Fox Meadow Vineyards in Northern Virginia that won the 2011 Governor's Cup for red wines in February.

I've known Payette since the early 1990s when I visited Prince Michel Winery near Culpeper and found him soaking up skills of the craft from consultant Jacques Boissenot, who is based in the Margaux region of Bordeaux. Last week at the ceremony in Richmond, Payette seemed more interested in talking about Boissenot than himself. Did I know Boissenot was finally being recognized for his genius, that he had recently been named winemaker of the decade by a prestigious magazine?

I've visited with Boissenot in Bordeaux, and I know he is one of the most revered French oenologists of his era. He is pretty much retired now, but his son, Eric, carries on the business of advising more than 200 wineries worldwide.

Still, the elder Boissenot, even though he has consulted for four of the five Bordeaux First Growths, has never gotten the media attention lavished upon winemaking gurus such as his neighbor Michel Rolland.

Much the same could be said for Payette, the Virginia winemaker that Boissenot mentored. Ask the average Virginia wine fancier - especially a younger one - to name the state's best winemakers and he or she might reel off a dozen before getting to Payette. That may change now with the consecutive Governor's Cup wins.

The New Kent 2009 Chardonnay Reserve ($25) that won the 2011 prize for white wines is generous with orange peel, butter and spice flavors. But as creamy as it is on entry, it finishes clean with citrus and mineral notes.

Payette's wife, Amy, was at the Governor's Cup ceremony pouring samples of wine she makes together with her mother and father, Cheryl and Al Kellert, at Gray Ghost Vineyards below Front Royal. The Gray Ghost Adieu Late Harvest Vidal dessert wine probably holds more medals from national competitions than any other Virginia wine. She was asked if there is winemaking competition between the spouses.

"There certainly is," she said. "We call ourselves FedEx and UPS."

Jim Raper, humstew@cox.net