Grapes from 3 States take honors: 2018 SF Chronicle Wine Competition
Posted on January 21,2018 By John Compisi
Grapes from 3 States take honors: 2018 SF Chronicle Wine Competition
The 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, held at Cloverdale, CA’s historic Citrus Fair last week, is now in the record books. More than 6,900 American wines, from thirty-five (35) States, were entered into this year’s competition and after 3.5 days of swirling, sniffing, sipping, spitting and judging six (6) wines received the penultimate recognition of ‘Best of Class Sweepstakes’ awardees.
2018’s 64 judges from across the USA (J.Compisi)
Gaining the spotlight at Friday morning’s Sweepstakes taste-off were: Rack & Riddle of Healdsburg for its $22 Blanc de Noirs in the Sparkling Category; Barnard Griffin Winery of Richland, Wa., a perennial favorite, was named the Rose Sweepstake Winner for its $14, 2017 Columbia Valley Rose Sangiovese; a rare varietal winner in the White was Brick Barn Wine Estate of Buellton, Ca., for its $40 2016 Santa Ynez Valley Vermentino; O’Shaughnessy Estate Winery of Angwin, Ca., scored the Red wine for its $100, 2014 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon; the judges choice in the Dessert category was Merritt Estate Winery of Forestville, NY, for its $39.99, 2015 Lake Erie Vidal Ice Wine; and finally, Goose Watch Winery of Romulus, NY, was recognized for its $14.99 Finger Lakes Flying High Semi-Sweet Cider in the Cider category.
The six wine Sweeps winners and the Label Contest winner far right (J.Compisi)
There was also a Label Competition occurring in parallel and the winner of that judging was Rodney Strong Vineyards of Healdsburg for its $28, 2015 Sonoma County Upshot.
Approximately 125 volunteers, mostly from Cloverdale and Sonoma County, but some from as far away as Oregon and the Sacramento area, along with the Citrus Fair Staff and local caterers, Full of Flavor Catering, poured more than 21,000 tastes, served nearly 1,500 meals, setup and tore down the 21 judging panels, washed and racked thousands of wine glasses as well as handling the 40,000 plus bottles of wine numerous times to verify and cross verify that the wines being blindly served to the judges were the correct wines. All in an effort to assure the integrity of the competition. As competition Executive Director Bob Fraser tells the vintners across the country, “You will get a fair shot!”
The judging week started Monday with final preparations by the volunteers and the organizing staff led by Bob and son Scott Fraser and Anne Vercelli. The actual judging began Tuesday morning when the 64 judges, who gathered at the Citrus Fair for a welcome Sparkling Wine, buffet breakfast. Retiring Citrus Fair CEO, Bonnie Wlodarczyk, welcomed the judges and incoming CEO Katie Fonsen Young was introduced. Some of this year’s judges have been judging this competition for more than 10 years. Fraser reminded all present of the 35 year history of the competition which started in 1983 as the Cloverdale Citrus Fair Wine Competition.
The judges gather at the Citrus Fair for a “sparkling’ breakfast Tuesday. (J.Compisi)
Later Tuesday evening the local Pine Mountain – Cloverdale Peak (PM-CP) wine growers and producers hosted a pre-dinner reception showcasing PM-CP grapes with wines from Miro Cellars (Silverwood Vineyard), BobDog (Sky Pines Vineyard), Ampère (Pine Mountain Vineyard), Captûre (Jackson Family), Imagery Estates (Upper Ridge) and Archimedes (Francis Ford Coppola). This is the second year that PM-CP has taken advantage of this opportunity to expose these renowned judges to wines from this unique American Viticultural Area (AVA) high above Cloverdale. The Judges Dinner was prepared and served by Erik Johnson and his team at Trading Post Restaurant in Cloverdale The Trading Post was recognized in 2017 as the best new restaurant in Sonoma County.
Pine Mountain – Cloverdale Peak wines (J.Compisi)
It was a kick to see so much local involvement in the largest competition in the world for American wines. Not only the volunteers but the many judges from around the Bay Area and Sonoma County, including Cloverdalians Miro Tcholakov, Winemaker at Trentadue and his Miro Cellars and Christopher O’Gorman, Director of Communications for Rodney Strong Vineyards.
To get more information about the award winning wines visit winejudging.com. To experience and taste the gold member winners and Best of Class Sweepstakes winners you can attend the public tasting at Ft. Mason Center in San Francisco on February 17th, 2018
About the Cloverdale Citrus Fair: The Cloverdale Citrus Fair began as a typical small country fair in 1892 and still remains the earliest fair held in California each year. As you’ll soon see, this event has blossomed into a major community effort, resulting in one of the most memorable and entertaining events in California. Cloverdale is approximately 90 miles north of San Francisco in Northern Sonoma County.
About the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition: In 1982, two wine industry insiders sat down over a glass of zinfandel and laid plans for the first Cloverdale Citrus Fair Wine Competition the following year. At that time, Bob Del Sarto was the general manager of the historical Italian Swiss Colony winery in Asti, California and Bob Bogner was general manager of one of the largest grape grower cooperatives of that day, Allied Grape Growers. They conceived the competition to fulfill the needs of the burgeoning wine industry in northern Sonoma and southern Mendocino Counties. The first competition was modest in size — 15 wineries entered 45 wines, and a single panel of five judges awarded 30 medals. The competition grew rapidly in the 1990s to over 100 wineries. Eligibility was gradually increased to include all wineries in Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties. Consequently, it was renamed the Tri-County Wine Competition from 1996–99. The competition expanded to the entire North Coast Appellation in 2000 as the California North Coast Wine Competition. This area included all wineries in the counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Solano and Marin. In 2000, the San Francisco Chronicle became the naming sponsor of the competition with the Cloverdale Citrus Fair remaining the host. In 2006, the San Francisco Chronicle Wine competition expanded its geographical base nationally. The proceeds of the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition support the non-profit Cloverdale Citrus Fair and help support wine and food education at educational institutions and non-profit organizations.