• When and where: May 19-21, 2010, Watkins Glen, N.Y.
• Biggest surprise: Not the quality of the wine, which is usually top notch, but the depth of the quality of the wine. Typically, at an event like this, the quality isn't very deep. In this case, though, over two days and 36 flights of wine, there were only three or four flights I tasted that were truly not good -- including some expensive pinot noirs.
• What's different: I had to oversee my judging group on the second day. It's a long story why; it's enough to note that being a table moderator involves a lot of paperwork (someone has to record the scores) and some math, and that the Wine Curmudgeon enjoys neither. But we got the job done, and the people on my panel were speaking to me when the day ended, which is always a good sign.
• Who I judged with: On day one, Fred LeBrun of the Albany Times Union; Chip Cassidy, a Florida retailer; Anna Katharine Mansfield, a Cornell University enologist; and Steve DiFrancesco, the winemaker at Glenora Winery in New York. On day two, Dave McIntyre of the Washington Post and my cohort in DrinkLocalWine.com; Stephanie Johnson, the wine director for City Winery in Manhattan; and Zoran Ljepović of Constellation Wines.
• Compensation: The competition paid for food, lodging and airfare (and is put on by the company that owns Vineyard & Winery Management magazine, which I freelance for).
• Overall: This is one of my favorite competitions to judge, because I get to taste a lot of wine that isn't cabernet, chardonnay or merlot. In addition, it's a treat to be around other people who feel that way and who believe that the future of wine in the United States is not about more of the same from California, but about what happens with regional wine. Results are here -- the Konstantin Frank late harvest riesling was worthy of all the awards it won.
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