San Francisco International Wine Competition Gives Top Awards to d'Arenberg, Cosentino, Phelps, Moet & Chandon, Peninsula Cellars and Beringer Blass

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N E W S
San Francisco International Wine Competition Gives Top Awards to d'Arenberg, Cosentino, Phelps, Moet & Chandon, Peninsula Cellars and Beringer Blass

An Australian winery, d'Arenberg, recently won the "Bon Appetit Magazine Winery of the Year," the top honor at the 2003 San Francisco International Wine Competition.

The "Tom Stockley Best of Show" awards were awarded to Joseph Phelps 2000 Insignia, Napa Valley, for best red wine; Michigan's Peninsula Cellars for its 2002 Semi-Dry Riesling, best white wine; and Moet & Chandon's 1993 Cuvee Dom Perignon Rose, Epernay, for top sparkling wine. This award was named in honor of the late Tom Stockley, a noted, Seattle-based wine writer and a former judge at this competition.

Napa Valley's Cosentino Winery won the coveted Andre Tchelistcheff "Winemaker of the Year" award for excellence in one wine brand, and Beringer Blass Wine Estates won a first time prize, the "Portfolio Award" for excellence across a wide spectrum of wine brands.

There were 3,865 wines entered, the most in any United States competition. This outpouring of wines came from 972 wineries, spread out over 25 states and 21 countries.

The medal count included 85 double golds (list attached), 135 gold, 645 silver and 1,221 bronze medals. A double gold medal is awarded when all the judges on a particular panel agree that a wine deserves a gold medal.

Best of varietals wines included: Boeger Winery, 1999 Tempranillo; d'Arenberg for both best Chardonnay, 2002 Lucky Lizard, and best Shiraz, 2000 The Dead Arm. Laetitia Vineyard, Arroyo Grande Valley, took best Pinot Noir honors for its 2001 Estate and Australia's Leasingham Wines won best Cabernet Sauvignon for its 1999 Bin 65, Clare Valley.

Best Zinfandel was awarded to Carol Shelton, Russian River Valley, 2001 Karma Zin and Villicana Winery took Merlot honors for its 2001 Estate from Paso Robles. Honig Vineyard captured the best Sauvignon Blanc award for its 2002 Napa Valley offering.

Some of the "Best of Nation" awards included: Canada's Jackson-Triggs Vintners Okanagan Estates; France's Moet & Chandon; Germany's Weingut Balthasar Ress; Italy's The Tuscan Estates of Ruffino; New Zealand's Kim Crawford Wines and Spain's Osborne.

Double gold medals included some famous names such as Beringer (2001 Founder's Estate Chardonnay), and Kendall Jackson for its 2001 Cabernet/Shiraz blend and 2000 Monterey Pinot Noir. The Finger Lake district winery Swedish Hill, a perennial medal winner, had three double golds, all representing fine values: NV Country Concord, $7, 2002 Delaware, Old Vine Reserve, $8, and NV Spumante Blush, $10. Missouri's Stone Hill Winery, Canada's Jackson Triggs Vintners and Australia's d'Arenberg winery also took three double gold medals.

With value wines so important in today's market, 30 of the 85 double gold medal wines were priced at $15 or under, including the "Best White of Show" awarded to Missouri's Peninsula Cellars, 2002 Semi-Dry Riesling Old Mission Peninsula, $13. Wine brands in this value category included: Babich 2002 Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, $15; Beringer 2001 Founders' Estate Chardonnay, $12; Black Opal 2001 Shiraz from Australia, $12; Chateau Grand Traverse 2002 Late Harvest Riesling, Michigan, $13; Chateau LaFayette Reneau 2002 Johannisberg Riesling, Finger Lakes, $12; Chateau Souverain 2001 Sauvignon Blanc from Alexander Valley, Sonoma, $14; Handley Cellars 2001 Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley, $14; Honig 2002 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, $14; Kingston Estate 2002 Sauvignon Blanc, Australia, $14; Mount Difficulty, 2002 Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand, $15; and Lynford Winery 2002 Johannisberg Riesling, $15.

Other double gold medals were also awarded to the following value wines: Chiappone Wine Cellars 2002 Oui C'est Bon, Chatttaqua County, Lake Erie, $10; Goose Watch Winery, 2002 Melody, Finger Lakes, $8; Jackson Triggs 2001 Sauvignon Blanc, Vintners Estate, Canada, $9; Jacob's Creek, NV Brut Cuvee, South Eastern Australia, $9; La Tour des Dames, 2001 Chardonnay, Bourgogne, $10; Mon Ami Winery, 2002 Riesling, Lake Erie, $7; Barton & Guestier 2001 Chardonnay, $6; Montelle Winery Seyval Blanc, 2002 Missouri, $9; Osborne, "Best Sherry" Pedro Ximenez, Jerez, Spain, $14; Thurston Wolfe Winery 2001 Dr. Wolfe's Family Red, Columbia Valley, $15; Wynns Coonawarra Estate, 2002 Chardonnay, Australia ,$13; Yangarra Park 2001 Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Australia, $15; V. Sattui 2002 Off-Dry Riesling, Napa, $15; Missouri's Stone Hill Winery 2002 Vignoles, $13 and NV Golden Rhine, $8; and the two Peninsula Cellars Rieslings, the 2002 Semi-Dry, $13 and the 2002 Riesling Select, $15.

The competition, again under the direction of noted wine and food authority, Anthony Dias Blue, Bon Appetit Magazine's wine and spirits editor, has evolved over the years to be one of the most important and comprehensive wine competitions in the world, both for the number of wines entered and for the high level of expertise among the 42 judges.

Blue said, "Besides the huge growth in the past few years in the number of wines entered, what has most impressed me is the increasingly higher and higher quality of entries from all over the world. It is truly a golden age of wine! Because of the competition's very high standards, relatively few top medals were given, even though there were almost 4000 wines entered."

Blue also thanked the Nikko Hotel in San Francisco for staging the event and this year's sponsors, the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau and Semifreddi's Bakery.

For a complete list of winners, visit the San Francisco International Wine Competition's website: http://www.sfwinecomp.com.

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