13

Jun

winner winner, chicken dinner (with red wine, obviously)

Many wineries love to boast about their awards and accolades. And I can’t really say that I blame them. If I were to make a huge investment over several years that costs a fortune, I would most certainly put the wine bummer sticker equivalent of “my child is an honor student” everywhere! Most wineries are too classy to slap that accomplishment right there on their label, but you will undoubtedly find them on their website, facebook page, and twitter account. Before getting too awestruck with these fancy recognitions (like three double golds and five golds), it is important to understand what goes into a wine competition.

Most competitions are funded by newspapers and magazines and have different criteria. The preliminary conditions often include wines that are local or smaller than 100,000 cases a year or in a particular price range. They are then separated into their varietal: sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir, zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, and dessert, to name a few. The panel of judges then has blind tastings of all the entered wines. Wines are not just “discovered” for their greatness by chance, but must submit a sample in the call to entry for each competition. The deciders of a wine’s goodness-factor typically come from multiple backgrounds to increase the credibility of the collective decision. These backgrounds include renowned winemakers for wineries not entered, wine writers (to get the competition some publicity, obviously), marketing gurus, and professional wineologists (not really sure who those people are or what they do, but it sounds like the most fabulous profession ever!) The wines, vis-à-vis the blind tasting, are then awarded on the competition’s respective scale. These may be points or metals. Good wine is typically above 80 points, great wine above 90 points and surely only wineries giving kickbacks or sexual favors to the judges receive over 95 points. The metals usually range from bronze to double gold. I would drink bronze, but only after a few glasses of silver. To impress the coworker, definitely serve gold. To repent a wrong-doing or to suck up to the boss/in-laws, double gold is a must.  Therefore, know the situation you are entering when serving or gifting a wine so you can appropriately adhere to the social wine guidelines (or not if you are trying to snub someone).

Since I am shameless in giving a shout out to the delectable wines of Palmeri, here is a plug to our great achievements! As you will see, most are rated in double gold and gold or 87 points and higher, so hopefully you have made some mistakes that need apologizing for or are trying to clime that social ladder:

2012 Orange County Fair Wine Competition:                                                               Gold – 2006 Van Ness Syrah

2012 Dallas Morning News Wine Competition:
Silver – 2006 Stagecoach Cabernet Sauvignon
2012 SF Chronicle Wine Competition:
Double Gold – 2008 Stagecoach Cabernet
Gold – 2006 Stagecoach Cabernet Sauvignon

2011 SF Chronicle Wine Competition:
Gold – 2006 Van Ness Syrah
Gold – 2007 Stagecoach Cabernet Sauvignon
Silver – 2006 Stagecoach Cabernet Sauvignon

2010 Orange County Fair Wine Competition:
Gold – 2006 Stagecoach Cabernet Sauvignon
Silver – 2005 Stagecoach Syrah
Silver – 2004 Stagecoach Cab/Syrah blend

Wine Enthusiast , April 2010
94 pts – 2005 Van Ness Vineyard Syrah
93 pts – 2005 Napa Valley Stagecoach Vineyard Syrah.
93 pts – 2003 Van Ness Stagecoach Vineyard Syrah.
87 pts – 2003 Cab/Syrah
These wines a re delicious and we are glad they agree!

For our 2003 Cab/Syrah:
Double Gold, Riverside Wine Competition
Double Gold, Taster’s Guild

31 thoughts on “winner winner, chicken dinner (with red wine, obviously)”

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