Continuing to Branch Out

Look at a bottle of wine, particularly those that you see in other than local wine shops. You will periodically see on a bottle little stickers showing that they did well in a wine competition. Well, in the US, among the most prestigious is that held by the San Francisco Chronicle, likely because of its proximity to the most storied wine region in the US. And, the 2021 competition was held about a month ago.

The judges are not names that you would know unless you are really in the wine world, but trust that they know what they are doing. These are professionals in the industry who have been tasting wines critically for years. It doesn't mean that their tastes and yours will align, but when they say a wine is horrible or outstanding, you should probably take notice.

The lowest award category is the Bronze Medal. Frankly, if your wine scores Bronze, while it's better than no medal at all, you're likely not going to brag about it. Silver is not bad. But, the winners are the Gold Medalists, those that are fortunate enough to win Double Gold, those that are Best in Class and those that are Sweepstakes winners. Each year, there are only about a half dozen Sweepstakes winners, so being one of them is almost like winning the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Let's not assume that the wines competing are just from wineries you have never heard of looking to publicize themselves or hoping for their big breaks. Looking at the lists, I see some of the best known higher-end (generally not over the top where prices may be several hundred dollars per bottle though) wineries in the country represented.

So, let's consider the Sweepstakes winners for 2021. There were seven, not including one for packaging. And, the wineries represented among those seven were a dessert wine from Russian River Valley priced at $36, two red wines, both from Paso Robles and priced at $55 and $30, a Rose from Lake County (CA) priced at $18, a white wine from Russian River Valley priced at $38, and two sparkling wines, one from Virgina at $55 and the other from New Mexico at $46.

What's missing? Napa Valley. Oregon. Washington. It doesn't mean that they don't make great wines, but it does mean that you might find ones you'll like just as much from other parts of the US (this competition attracts North American wines only, nearly 6000 of them). 

So, continue to branch out. And consider using the ratings from here (see link near top of post) to guide you in choosing some winners.



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