November 2007

2007 Top Awards, Tri-Cities Wine Festival

The results are in from the oldest continuously run wine festival in the Northwest, the 2007 Tri-Cities Wine Festival competition, held recently in Pasco, Washington. 242 wines from 71 Northwest wineries were judged in blind competition and the super-award winners are:

Best of Show:
Tsillan Cellars 2006 Riesling

Double Gold:
Barrister Winery 2005 Cabernet Franc (Best of Class)
Hyatt Vineyards 2006 Winter Harvest Riesling (Best of Class)
Pacific Rim Winemakers 2006 Chenin Blanc (Best of Class)
Lost River Winery 2005 Syrah

C G Di Arie Vineyard 2005 Primitivo

The Award-Winning Wine:
C G Di Arie Vineyard 2005 Primitivo, Estate Grown, Shenandoah Valley

Reason for Reviewing:
C G Di Arie Vineyard 05 Primitivo won the "Best Red Wine" award at the 2007 Amador County Wine Competition.

Noteworthy:
Planted at an elevation of 1,700 feet with zinfandel, syrah, petit sirah, primitivo, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, one of the main goals of the vineyard is to develop consistency of fruit from vine to vine. With subtle variations from red, granitic rocky loam, to sandy loam, the soil at C. G. Di Arie is ideal, offering good root penetration to the vines.

Winery Notes:
This wine has deep black cherry, plum and blackberry aromas. The wine shows good structure and complexity in the mid-palate with well balanced acidity. It has a lingering powerful and at the same time soft finish of black cherry, mocha and spice.

AlaWine Notes:
C G Di Arie Vineyard 2005 Primitivo presents as a beautiful ruby-red color in the glass. It radiates a rich dark cherry, blackberry nose. The wine opens with a full palate of ripe berry-cherry and peeled plum flavors in a smooth mouthfeel. Moderate, but lively, acidity carries the smooth full flavors into and through a very long, sprightly spicy, finish.

Bottom Line:
C G Di Arie Vineyard 2005 Primitivo is a beautiful wine to the eye, nose, and palate. It is well balanced and well integrated and a simply delicious wine. Not only the best red wine of the Amador County Wine Competition, but the best red wine we've tasted around here in the last six months. A very good value at a suggested retail price is $20. Overall composite score: 99 points.

Robert Parker's 100 Point Wines

Wine-searcher.com lists 90 wines that have received Robert Parker's perfect score of 100 points:

Robert Parker's 100 Point Wines

Double Gold Wines from the Houston International Wine Competition

These 35 wines earned Double Gold Medal honors at the 2007 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo International Wine Competition (2008 results are pending):

Houston International Wine Competition Super Awards

The 2008 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo International Wine Competition judged 1,969 entries from 606 wineries and 16 countries. Here are the super-award winners:

Breitenbach Winery Frost Fire

The Award-Winning Wine:
Breitenbach Winery Frost Fire

Reason for Reviewing:
Breitenbach Winery Frost Fire selected as Gold Medal and Best of Class award winners at the 2007 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition. Breitenbach Winery led all wineries with three Gold Medal and Best of Class award winners at the competition.

Noteworthy:
Breitenbach Winery is located in the rolling, picturesque hills of Ohio's Amish countryside. Their wines are made on the premises.

Winery Notes:
This tremendously popular wine has Breitenbach with countless International medals. It is sweet and fruity, and delightful with chicken dishes. People say it tastes just like plucking a fresh grape right off the vine.

AlaWine Notes:
Breitenbach Winery Frost Fire pours as a clear, pale straw yellow color in the glass. Aromas of pear and mandarin orange lift to the nose. On the palate it exhibits full fruit flavors in a smooth mouthfeel. A bright acidity offsets its moderate sweetness and leads into a long and satisfying finish.

Bottom Line:
Breitenbach Winery Frost Fire is a well balanced and well integrated sweet dessert wine, although it would pair well with many lunches and some light dinners. It would likely appeal to a wide range of Thanksgiving guests. Suggested retail price is $9.75. Overall composite score: 90 points.

2007 North Carolina Wine Competition Winners

The 8th Annual N.C. State Fair Wine Competition, held recently in Raleigh, had 249 wines submitted by 32 N.C. wineries. McRitchie Winery took home the N.C. Winegrowers Cup and Best of Show honors with their 2006 Chardonnay. Duplin Winery's Magnolia took the N.C. Muscadine Cup for best Muscadine wine for the third year in a row.

Highest Honors:

Best in Show: McRitchie Winery Chardonnay 2006

Best of Muscadine: Duplin Winery Magnolia

Best Red Vinifera: Childress Winery Signature Cabernet Sauvignon

Best White Vinifera: McRitchie Winery Chardonnay 2006

Best Fruit Wine: Grove Winery Strawberry

Best Fortified Wine: Childress Winery Starbound

Most Medals Awarded Childress Winery 29 Medals

Double Gold:

Biltmore Estate Winery Biltmore Estate Ch. Res. Cabernet Sauvignon

Childress Winery Cabernet Franc 2005

Childress Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

RayLen Vineyards & Winery Category 5

Shelton Vineyards 2005 Estate Chardonnay

Childress Winery Signature Cabernet Sauvignon

Childress Winery Starbound

Grove Winery Strawberry

McRitchie Winery Chardonnay

Duplin Winery Magnolia

Super-Award Winners from the Fine American Wine Competition

The results are in for a new wine competition, South Florida Business Journal's Fine American Wine Competition, which "is believed to be the first-ever U.S. wine competition to limit entries to American products with a threshold wine value."

All three Best of Show Winners were from California; Two were from Sonoma County's Alexander Valley. The 2006 Summers Alexander Valley Chardonnay ($22) earned the top honor in the white wine category and the 2005 Chalk Hill L. H. Semillion ($55) won in the dessert wine group. The 2005 Brochelle Vineyards Paso Robles Syrah ($39) from California's Central Coast topped all of the red wines.

Double Gold Medal Winners:

Double Gold Winners, Sonoma Harvest Fair

Here are the Double Gold Medal winners from the 2007 Sonoma County Harvest Fair:

Quady Winery 2006 Red Electra

The Award-Winning Wine:
Quady Winery 2006 Red Electra

Reason for Reviewing:
Quady Winery 2006 Red Electra earned a top-honor Gold Medal at the 2007 Central California Wine Competition sponsored by the The Central California Winegrowers Organization.

Noteworthy:
From the winery: "Andrew and Laurel Quady left crowded southern California and their jobs in pyrotechnics and merchandising to pursue their dream: a non-urban way of life making wine. Andrew graduated with a Masters in Food Science-Enology from UC Davis. ...In 1990, we decided to produce a new type of dessert wine, light, delicate, easy to drink, and very refreshing.

Winery Notes:
Quady Winery 2006 Red Electra is a yummy wine with only 5% alcohol, a pretty red color, a grapy sweet taste, and a tangy, spritzy mouth feel.

AlaWine Notes:
Quady Winery 2006 Red Electra displays as a bright, clear strawberry red color in the glass. Floral rose and berry aromas lift to the nose. Fresh and sweet berry and cherry fruit flavors fill the palate and are balnced by a crisp acidity and moderately tart finish.

Bottom Line:
Made from a blend of Orange Muscat and Muscat Hamburg, Quady Winery 2006 Red Electra is a fun and interesting wine -- light and bright, sweet and tart, with a moderately fizzy mouthfeel. At only 5% alcohol, it can easily be enjoyed on its own, chilled or at room temperature, or with picnics, and might also pair well with spicy foods or light desserts. Suggested retail price is $13.99. Overall composite score: 89 points.

Best of Class Award Winners, Sonoma Harvest Fair

In a year with a record number of more than 1000 wines judged for the 2007 Sonoma County Harvest Fair, the following wines earned best of Class Awards:

Sonoma County Harvest Fair Sweepstakes Winners

The 2007 Sonoma County Harvest Fair award-winning wines have been announced. The two very top award winners, from a record number of more than 1000 wines judged, include:

C. G. Di Arie Wines 2005 Zinfandel

The Award-Winning Wine:
C. G. Di Arie Wines 2005 Zinfandel

Reason for Reviewing:
C. G. Di Arie Wines 2005 Zinfandel was a Double Gold award winner at the 2007 Amador County Wine Competition.

Noteworthy:
Planted at an elevation of 1,700 feet with zinfandel, syrah, petit sirah, primitivo, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, one of the main goals of the vineyard is to develop consistency of fruit from vine to vine. With subtle variations from red, granitic rocky loam, to sandy loam, the soil at C. G. Di Arie is ideal, offering good root penetration to the vines.

Winery Notes:
Most of the grapes used for this Zinfandel came from a hillside vineyard in Amador County. Other varieties added, were in order to improve the balance and add complexity to the wine. This wine was made in our “Submerged Cap” Fermentation Tank. It was aged in predominantly French oak for about one year. It is well balanced with deep color and typical varietal flavor and aroma. The black cherry flavors progress in the mid-palate to blackberry and plum and the bold finish of chocolate lingers pleasantly long after the wine is consumed.

AlaWine Notes:
C. G. Di Arie Wines 2005 Zinfandel pours as a dark ruby color and exudes rich aromas of ripe dark fruit. Full fruit flavors of brambleberries, dark cherries, and whole plums fill the palate with a bright and smooth mouthfeel. Soft tannins frame the rich ripe fruit through a long and lingering vanilla-chocolate finish.

Bottom Line:
C. G. Di Arie Wines 2005 Zinfandel is a very flavorful fruit forward wine with good balance and an intriguing complexity. It is well integrated with generous helpings of Petite Sirah and Primitivo (wholly comprised of 79.4% Zinfandel, 10.4% Petite Sirah, 8.7% Primitivo, and 1.5% Syrah) which add both flavor and interest. An outstanding value at a suggested retail price of $18. Overall composite score: 97 points.

Cline Cellars 2005 Ancient Vine Mourvedre

The Award-Winning Wine:
Cline Cellars 2005 Ancient Vine Mourvedre

Reason for Reviewing:
Cline Cellars 2005 Ancient Vine Mourvedre was selected as a Chairman's Award (Unanimous Gold) winner at the 2007 Riverside International Wine Competition Awards.

Noteworthy:
Cline Cellars resides on the site of a former Miwok Village and then later, the first camp of Father Altimira in his quest to establish the Sonoma Mission. The property offers sweeping views of the Carneros valley. The tasting room is located inside an original 1850's farmhouse, and is wrapped by a large and pleasant, old-fashioned porch for outdoor seating. Six spring-fed ponds, with lush green lawns, rustling willow trees, ever-changing gardens and the glorious, fragrant blossoms of over 5,000 rose bushes, surround the grounds.

About the Varietal:
Mourvedre is a Rhone variety, native to Spain, used for blending some red wines in France, with some popularity in Australia in Grenache, Shiraz Mourvedre blends. Until recently, this grape was rarely bottled as a single varietal, and was instead most often used as part of field blends. Its new popularity and prestige of Rhone varietals has given the Mourvedre varietal a new life.

Winery Notes:
Redolent of dark plum, chocolate, eucalyptus, exotic spice and earth character, the Ancient Vines Mourvèdre is delicious now, and will age for well over a decade. Mourvèdre is what sets Cline apart from all others.

AlaWine Notes:
Pouring as a medium dark ruby-garnet color in the glass, Cline Cellars 2005 Ancient Vine Mourvedre radiates moderate aromas of plum and blackberry in an earthy context, carrying over to the palate in full ripe flavors, cradled in medium to soft tannins and leading to a long vanilla oak finish with a hint of pencil shavings and a touch of cinnamon.

Bottom Line:
Cline Cellars 2005 Ancient Vine Mourvedre is a dry medium bodied red wine with moderate tannins and moderate flavor intensity with a long satisfying finish. A good value at a suggested retail price of $18. Overall composite score: 94 points.

Breitenbach Winery Cafe Viognier

The Award-Winning Wine:
Breitenbach Winery Cafe Viognier

Reason for Reviewing:
Cafe Viognier was one of three Breitenbach Winery wines selected as Gold Medal and Best of Class award winners at the 2007 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition.

Noteworthy:
Breitenbach Winery is nestled among the rolling, picturesque hills of Ohio's Amish countryside. Breitenbach's white wines are made in a Germanic style.

Winery Notes:
Breitenbach Winery Cafe Viognier features enticing tropical flavors with a soft finish, making this wine "food friendly" and one to enjoy.

AlaWine Notes:
Breitenbach Winery Cafe Viognier displays as a straw yellow color and radiates a floral nose of apricots and violets. Apricot and honey fill the palate with a creamy mouth and yield to a smooth citrus honey finish.

Bottom Line:
Breitenbach Winery Cafe Viognier is a light to medium bodied off-dry Viognier similar in character to a white zinfandel. It offers fresh to smooth acidity and moderately powerful flavor intensity. Pair with Asian and other spicy foods. Suggested retail price is $13.88. Overall composite score: 92 points.