Part three of Steve Somermeyer's overview of the results of the 2006 Indy International Wine Competition held recently in Indianapolis. Here he looks at the top performing wineries in terms of medals won, and offers some "best buys" of the wines submitted at the competition.
For background information on the competition, see my earlier blog entry.
Top Performing Wineries:
I'll highlight wineries that did very well in the competition - lots of gold and silver medals won compared to the number of wines they entered. I'll also lean toward "value wines" - medal winners that are relatively inexpensive.
- Kendall-Jackson: Out of 11 wines, they won 2 CG, 2 golds, 6 silvers and 1 bronze covering all of the major varietals.
- Michael-David: Last year's top red wine winner, this Lodi winery with the fun names such as 7 Deadly Zins, Seven Heavenly Chards (a CG winner), Earthquate, and Incognito, won 1 CG, 2 golds, 3 silvers and 3 bronzes.
- V. Sattui: This Napa winery which sells all of their wine directly from the winery won the competition's award for winning the most medals - 27. They won a CG and 3 golds with their Cabernet Sauvignons, 2 golds with zins, and golds with their Sauvignon Blanc and Gamay Rouge.
- Huber Winery: The repeat winner of the Governor's Cup, this southern Indiana Winery (and great visitor destination) does a great job with both fruits and grapes. They won CG with their raspberry and their '02 Heritage a blend of Chambourcin, Cab. Franc and Cab. Sauv. They also won 5 golds, 6 silvers and 3 bronzes.
- Barefoot Cellars: This 'value' line won 2 golds, 6 silvers, and 4 bronzes.
- Gallo: They entered most of their labels - Dancing Bull, Ecco Domani, Gallo of Sonoma, Gallo Family Vineyard Twin Valley, Livingston Cellars, McWilliams Wines, Napa Valley Vineyards, Red Bicyclette, Turning Leaf, Forest Glen, Valdivieso, Montpellier, Bridlewood, Mirassou, Black Swan, Bella Sera and Rancho Zabaco - and they all won numerous medals.
- St. Supery: Consistent medal winner with 1 CG, 1 gold, 5 silvers and 2 bronzes.
- Oliver Winery: Indiana's largest winery won a medal with almost every wine they produce with 1 CG (Vignoles Late Harvest), 4 golds, 10 silvers, and 8 bronzes.
- Kenwood: This Sonoma winery won 2 CG's with Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon along with 3 silvers and 3 bronze.
- Stone HIll Winery: Missouri's historic winery consistently wins a bunch of medals here. This year they won 4 golds, 7 silvers, and 2 bronzes.
- Galena Cellars: Illinois' leading winery won 2 CG, 3 golds, 7 silvers, and 11 bronzes. About a month ago I judged the Illinois competition - for Illinois wineries only - and they won over half of the gold medals awarded there.
- Geyser Peak: They've done very well over the years - think they've won 6 best-of-show awards - and this year they won 2 CG (XYZin & '03 Cab. Sauv. Kuimelis Vineyard), 2 golds, 6 silvers, and 4 bronzes. Their exec. wine maker, Daryl Groom, judges here almost every year.
- Cline Cellars: They entered 4 wines and received 3 golds and a silver.
- St. Julian Winery: The well-known Michigan winery won 30 medals including 1 CG, 6 golds, 14 silvers, and 9 bronzes.
- Chateau Thomas Winery: The Indiana winery where I help make the wine won 3 golds, 7 silvers, and 18 bronzes.
Best Buys: (I've indicated price if known)
Concordance Gold winners: '05 Blue Fish Riesling (<$10), '03 Dancing Bull Merlot ($8), '05 Due Sauvignon Blanc ($10), '03 EOS Zinfandel ($10),'04 Four Emus, '04 Rex Goliath Pinot Gris ($6), '04 Smoking Loon Syrah ($7), '05 Three Thieves Chardonnay ($8), and '05 Yellow Tail Pinot Noir (<$10).
Gold medal values include Woodbridge Pinot Gris, Fetzer Valley Oaks Merlot and Zinfandel, Barefoot Chardonnay and Pinot Gris, Bella Sera Merlot, Gallo Twin Family Merlot, Red Bicyclette Rose, Turning Leaf Merlot, Forest Glen Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, & Merlot, Twin Fin Chardonnay, Campus Oaks Zinfandel, Montes Sauvignon Blanc, and Harlow Ridge Zinfandel.
Whew!!!! As the competition grows so does my summary. Hope this helps you the next time you're shopping for wine.
Thanks again, Steve, for allowing me to post this. It's always very informative, I always learn a lot and it helps tremendously with my selections of wine.
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