The Wine Curmudgeon

2013 Colorado Governor's Cup/AWS Competition

This year has been nothing short of a revelation for regional wine. First, there was the stunning quality of wines from the other 47 states in The Dallas Morning News and TexSom competition. Then, there was Maryland’s winning effort at this year’s Drink Local Wine conference.

Last weekend, there was Colorado’s exceptional performance at the annual Governor’s Cup. I tasted 100 wines, and almost none of them, to paraphrase one of the judges, was a drain dumper. It was easily the best showing from Colorado in the decade or so I have judged its wines.

The official results won’t be released for a month or so, so I don’t know the names of the winning wines (though I will update later). But there were still many highlights, which come after the jump:

The Dallas Morning News and TexSom Wine Competition 2013

Midway during the second day of judging at this year’s event, one of the other judges smiled at me and said, “This must make you feel good.”

And it did. My panel was judging red wines from the United States made in places that weren’t California, Oregon, and Washington. And they had been – dare I say? – spectacular. We gave five silvers and a gold; the day before, we had awarded gold medals to chardonnays from Idaho's Pend d'Oreille and Michigan.

The other judge, Paul Lukacs of Baltimore, knew about my work with DrinkLocalWine and my enthusiasm for regional producers. And, as someone who judges regularly, he also knew the quality of these wines can be uneven. And while we had some clunkers during the two-day event (we judged all regional wine), the overall quality was as good – if not better – than at any competition I have judged. There was even a nifty red from South Dakota's Belle Joli made with the marquette grape. More, after the jump:

Indy International 2012

Let's get the apologies out of the way first. First, to Bernie Parker of Indiana's Oliver Winery, who was the fourth judge on our panel at last week's 21st annual competition. I'm afraid he had to listen to the Wine Curmudgeon bellyache more than once about the quality of the wine we were judging, which is something no one should have to put up with as often as he had to put up with it.

Second, to two wines from our group that probably deserved double golds. They were an auxerrois from Canada's Gehringer Brothers, and a sparkling wine made with frontenac gris from Four Brothers in Minnesota, and each was better made than similar wines we tasted during the best of show taste-offs. As noted here before, judging is not an exact science, and these wines reminded me of that. More, after the jump:

Off to Indy

I’m judging the 21st annual Indy International Wine Competition this week, so I might be a little slow answering emails and moderating comments (which is still on since TypePad’s success in blocking the spambots has been intermittent at best).

I enjoy judging Indy because the people are top-notch, and I get to see old pals every year; many of the grapes used to make the we judge wine are just as odd as I am; and it’s probably the premier regional wine competition in the world (though, as I am always reminded by the organizers, it’s much more than just a regional competition).

I’ll have a full report next week when I get back. Of course, I will be tweeting. Sigh.

The Judgment of Paris on canvas

Or, did George Taber really dress like that? Actually, I kind of like his Huggy Bear look (the original, and not the remake). Not enough men wearing hats anymore.

The painting, done in the style of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, was commissioned by Peter Michael of the self-named Napa cult winery. Decanter, which published the painting, reports that the work depicts the moment when everyone at the tasting discovered that the California wines had ranked higher than the French – “a circumstance unthinkable in the mid-1970s.” There’s that British talent for understatement, no?

That’s Taber, the only journalist at the 1976 event, at the far right. I asked him what he thought of the likeness, and he said it was closer to reality than his character had been in “Bottle Shock,” the movie made about the Judgment. There, apparently, he looked liked a chubby Columbo (played by Louis Giambalvo). Which, of course, George does not look like.

Want a bigger, easier to see version of the painting? Click on the Decanter link above, and then click on the painting.

The Judgment of Princeton

Jersey wine? You're kidding me, right?

Blind tastings and wine challenges are nothing new these days. I get a couple of news releases a month detailing the latest faceoff between wines from various regions, and we even did one in April at DrinkLocalWine between Colorado and California.

So what makes this event, a blind tasting between wines from France and New Jersey, worth writing about? First, one of the organizers was George Taber, the only reporter present at the Judgment of Paris in 1976, the tasting that has become the model for everything since. Second, lots of people did write about it, which shows how far wine – and regional wine – has come. Third, the New Jersey wines held their own, which surprised more than a few people. More after the jump:

Lone Star International Wine Competition 2012

The first day of judging in the 29th annual event, which focuses on Texas but includes wines from other regional states, California, and the world, was not much fun. The quality of the wine was uneven at best, and many of the judges I talked to wondered if the 2011 competition, perhaps the best ever, had been a fluke.

Not to worry. The second day, when we judged best of class, reaffirmed my faith in the quality of Texas wine. In many ways, it was a landmark for the state’s producers. The wines that earned top honors were distinctive and reflected Texas’ terroir, demonstrating that wineries here finally seem to have figured out that they should not make chardonnay and merlot, but wines better suited for our climate and soil.

More, after the jump: