This is the second segment of three parts of Steve Somermeyer's summary of the 2006 Indy International Wine Competition recently held in Indianapolis. For the first part of the summary, including the background on the competition, see my earlier post here.
In this part, Steve takes a look at the winners in the Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah/Shiraz, Pinot, Zinfadel and other wine categories.
Cabernet Sauvignon: A very strong class this year with 8 concordance golds, 22 golds, 81 silvers and 77 bronzes. The best-in-class cab was Alexander Valley Vineyards '02 Cyrus. One surprise was a cab from Isreal winning a CG but the entry list doesn't give any information other than '04 Reserve. All of the other concordance golds were from California: Geyser Peak '03 Block Kuimelis Vineyard, Kenwood '03 Jack London Vineyard Sonoma Valley, Silver Ridge Vineyards '02 Barrel Select, Trinchero '02 Estate Bottled - Main Street, V. Sattui '03 Morisoli Vineyard Napa Valley, and Will Hill Estates '02 Reserve.
Golds were plentiful and from a variety of locales. California, as expected, had the most with representation from Beringer '02 Knights Valley, Clos du Val '03 Napa Valley, Forefathers '02 Alexander Valley, Forest Glen Winery '02 Oak Barrel Select, Gallo Family Vineyards '03 Somona Valley, Geyser Peak 03 Alexander Valley Reserve, Kendall-Jackson '03 Sonoma Grand Reserve, Rutherford Ranch '03 Napa Valley, St. Supery '02 Limited Edition Rhterford Estate, Trinchero '04 Family, V. Sattui won 3 golds - '03 Napa Valley, '03 Preston Vineyard Preston Vineyard, and '03 North Coast Sattui Family, Villa Mt. Eden '03 Napa Grand Reserve, and Wild Horse '03 Paso Robles.
Fellow panel judge Ed Cooke Tennessee winery Beachaven won a gold with his '04. Three Washington wineries won golds: Chateau St. Michelle '03 Indian Wells, Columbia Crest '03 Grand Estates, and Cougar Crest '03 Estate. Australia's McWilliams Wines won with their '01 Coonawarra and Chile's Vina Los Vascos won with their '03 Los Vascos Reserve and '01 Le Dix de Los Vascos.
Syrah/Shiraz: Australia led the way in this varietal with best-of-class Forefathers '04 McLaren Vale followed by 2 other concordance golds - Archetype Vineyards '04 Barossa and Chateau Reynella '03 Basket Pressed. California was represented by '04 Smoking Loon and Valley of the Moon '03 Sonoma County.
The Syrah/Shiraz gold medals were dominated by California wineries: Alexander Valley Vineyards '03, Amphora Winery '04 Mounts Vineyard, Bianchi '03 Paso Robles, Bridlewood Winery won 2 gold medals with their '03 Central Coast Reserve and '02 Santa Ynez Estate, Cline '04 Cool Climate Syrah, Clos de Bois '03 Sonoma County, Forrest Glen Winery '03 Oak Barrel Selection, Pedroncelli '03 Estate Vineyards, Rex Goliath NV, Talus Collection '04, and Turner Road '03 Lodi. Australia was represented in the gold category by Boundary Road '01 Western Australia. St. James, from Missouri won a gold with their NV and DH Lescombes, from New Mexico, won with their '05 vintage.
Zinfandel: One concordance gold was won by new winery XYZin (closely related to Geyser Peak I think) with their '04 10 Year Vine Age Series. Gold medals were won by Campus Oaks '02 Magna Cum Laude Amador, Cline '05, Fetzer '04 Valley Oaks, Kendall-Jackson '04 Vintner's Reserve, Montevina '03 Terr d'Oro, Rancho Zabaco Winery '04 Stefani Vineyard Dry Creek Valley, Rutherford Ranch '04 Napa Valley, and 2 zins from V. Sattui - '04 Quaglia Vineyard and '04 Lodi Pilgrim Vineyard. Indiana's own Chateau Thomas won a gold with their '04 Pomona Lodi and New York's Long Point Winery won with their '03 zin.
Pinot Noir: There were 2 concordance golds with Oregon's King Estate '04 Signature winning the best-of-class honors. The other CG was awarded to Australia's '05 Yellow Tail. Gold medals went to France's Bouchard Aine & Fils '05 Bourgogne and Joseph Drouhin '04 Chorey Les Beaune. New Zealand's Matua Valley '04 Marlborough and Indiana's Chateau Thomas '03 Carneros Pomona were gold winners. California was well-represented with Gloria Ferrer '04 Carneros, San Simeon '04 Monterey, and two Mahoney Vineyards Pinots - '03 Carneros and '04 Las Brisas Vineyard.
Petite Sirah: Along with the Best Red award by Martin Family Vineyards, Foppiano Vineyards also won a CG with their '03 Russian River Valley. Golds were awarded to Bodegas Aguirre '03 Estate Reserva in Livermore and Vina Robles Winery '03 Jardine.
Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio: This growing-in-popularity crisp white wine attracted quite a few entries from around the world. There were 3 concordance gold wines led by best-in-class Warburn '06 Reserve from Australia. The other two were Cuvee Anne-Laure '05 from Alsace and California's Rex Goliath '04.
Italy's Mexxacorona '04 Rentino Riserva DOC led the gold medals in the company of numerious American states: Cedar Creek '05 from Wisconsin, Ohio's Firelands Winery '05 Estate Isle St. George, Washington's Kyra '05, and Oregon's King Estate '05 Signature. California was well-represented by NV Barefoot Cellars, Blackstone '05 Monterey County, Papio '05 California, Trinity Oaks '05, and 05 Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi.
Riesling: Washington's Snoqualmie Vineyard 05 Winemaker's Select won the best-in-class title. The other 6 CG were split between Germany and New York. Germany had '05 Blue Fish, Wegeler '05 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spaetlese, and Wegeler Wehlener Sonnenuhr '04 Spatlese. New York represented by Chateau LaFayette Reneau '05 Finger Lakes SE Seneca Lake, Hosmer Winery '05, and Thirsty Owl Winery Company '05.
Gold medals were won by: Brys Estate Vineyard and Winery '04 Estate Grown Semi-Sweet from Michigan, Italy's '05 Cavit Collection, Germany's '05 Wegeler Bernkasteler Graben Auslese, California's Mirassou '05 Monterey County, Washington's Chateau St. Michelle '05 Col Solare Eroica, and Ohio's Ferrante '05 Grand River Valley.
Bordeaux Style Blends: The best-in-class blend was Chateau Pichon-Longueville '03. Our panel was privledged to join a great flight of Bordeaux which resulted in our awarding 2 CG - Chateau Belgrave '03 Haut-Medoc 5th Growth and Chateau Chauvin '02 Saint-Emillion Gran Cru. The other CG was California's St. Supery '01 Elu.
Of the 19 gold medals awarded 15 were from France (2 from our panel) with the others from somewhat surprising locales: Australia's Rosemount '03 , Canada's Hester Creek '04 Okanagan Valley, Virginia's Rappahannock Cellars '04 Meritage, and New Mexico's Casa Rondena Winery '04 Meritage.
Sparkling, Bottle Fermented: Two concordance golds led by the best-in-class Pommery '98 Grand Cru accompanied by California's Gloria Ferrer '96 Millesime Grand Cru. Four or the eight gold medals went to the French: Laurent-Perrier NV Brut Rose, Moet & Chandon NV White Star, Perrier-Jouet '96 Belle Epoque, and Pommery '98 Cuvee Louise. Washington's Domain St. Michelle won 2 golds - NV Fizzante and NV Blanc de Noirs. California's Gloria Ferrer '03 Blanc de Blancs and Missouri's Stone Hill Winery '01 Blanc de Blancs.
Coming next - Part 3 of Steve Somermeyer's summary of the 2006 Indy International Wine Competition, including the top performing wineries in the competition and Steve's "best buys".
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