Valley Road prevails at “Old World, New Roots” at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris — July 1, 2026

Inspired, in part, by the 50th anniversary of The Judgement in Paris, but also a desire to showcase the strides that Virginia wines have made over the past 50 years, two men created a head-to-head blind tasting of French and Virginia wines. Comprised of four flights — Chardonnay, Petit Manseng, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot-based red blends, the tasting was held on July 1 2026 at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Thomas McCune, a retired doctor from Virginia who now studies at Le Cordon Bleu, selected three French wines for each flight and Frank Morgan, Director of the Virginia Governor’s Cup and a wine columnist for The Virginian-Pilot, selected three Virginia wines for each flight.

Valley Road’s 2023 Cabernet Franc Reserve, along with DuCard Vineyard’s 2023 Vintner Reserve Cabernet Franc, and Afton Mountain Vineyard’s 2024 Cabernet Franc represented Virginia in the Cabernet Franc flight.

Shortly after the tasting concluded, CEO Stan Joynes received a call from Frank Morgan saying that the Valley Road Cabernet Franc came out on top in the Cabernet flight, followed by two of the French wines.

Lots of press has followed this wonderful news — see links below.

PLUS: stay tuned for the announcement of when the 2nd bottling of the 2023 Cabernet Franc Reserve will be released!

Richard Leahy blog — 7/1/26

The Wine Classroom blog (Paul Vigna) — 7/3/26