REDS
Bordeaux Blend (2)
Bonterra's flagship wine over the new/old Testa, which has been growing for decades, but bottling under their own name only recently.
Double Gold
Bonterra McNab, 2006
Bronze
Testa, Black (blend with Cabernet)
Cabernet Sauvignon (4)
Gold
Paul Dolan, 2010
Bronze
Barra, 2009
Bonterra, 2010
Terra Savia, 2009
Carignane (2)
This is an impressive debut for Testa's Carignane.
Double Gold
Testa, 2010
Bronze
Frey (NSA), NV
Charbono (1)
An old Italian varietal showcased.
Double Gold
Testa, 2010
Italian Varietals (2)
Chiarito's dry farmed, organic vineyard produced high quality deep flavors.
Double Gold
Chiarito, 2009 Nero D'Avola (not certified but organic)
Silver
Chiarito, 2009 Negramoro
Malbec (1)
A boutique, small production of 100% Malbec.
Silver
Saracina, 2010
Merlot (1)
Bronze
Bonterra, 2010
Petite Sirah (1)
Silver
Chiarito, 2009
Pinot Noir (8)
A surprising "Gold" for Girasole.
Double Gold
Handley - Anderson Valley (Estate), 2009
Gold
Girasole, 2010
Silver
Barra, 2009
Bonterra, 2010
Paul Dolan - Filigreen, 2007
Paul Dolan - Potter Valley, 2009
Bronze
McFadden, 2007
Naughty Boy, 2009
Red Blends (3)
Silver
Paul Dolan, Deep Red, 2008 (Petit Sirah, Primativo, Syrah, Grenache)
Bronze
Bonterra, The Butler, 2007 (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre)
Testa, Black, 2009
Rose (4)
Yorkville Cellars' rose is on the sweet side; the others are relatively dry.
Gold
Testa (Carignane), 2011
Silver
Barra, 2011
Naughty Boy, 2011
Yorkville Cellars, 2011
Zinfandel (3)
It's surprising that Zins haven't done better in Mendo.
Silver
Bonterra, 2009
Patianna, 2009
Paul Dolan, 2010
WHITES
Chardonnay (7)
More surprises - Bonterra's takes the top spot; and McFadden takes a silver, as high as benchmark Chardonnay producer Handley.
Double Gold
Bonterra, 2010
Silver
Barra, 2010
Frey, 2010
Handley Cellars, 2010
McFadden, 2010
Bronze
Girasole, 2010
Paul Dolan, 2010
Gewurztraminer (1)
Silver
McFadden, 2009
Muscat (1)
Warning: This one's way too sweet for my taste. (Girasole's sister wine, Barra, has a muscat that is better.)
Silver
Girasole, 2011
Pinot Blanc (1)
A notable achievement.
Gold
Girasole, 2010
Pinot Gris (1)
Silver
McFadden, 2011
Riesling (1)
Silver
McFadden, 2010
Sauvignon Blanc (6)
All three top winners are very different - you might enjoy a taste-off comparison tasting.
Gold
Patianna, 2010
Paul Dolan, 2011
Saracina, 2011
Silver
Bink, 2011
McFadden, 2009
Yorkville Cellars, 2011
Viognier (2)
The Bonterra is a personal favorite of mine - particularly in the summer.
Gold
Bonterra
Bronze
Campovida
Sparkling (2)
My favorite go to sparkling wine is the McFadden, of course. (I have never seen the Patianna for sale anywhere, but would like to try it.)
Double Gold
McFadden Brut (NV)
Silver
Patianna, 2008
Showing posts with label Patianna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patianna. Show all posts
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Monday, August 8, 2011
Mendocino Wine Competition - Organic Winners! (Gold and Double Gold)
Mendocino's annual wine competition was held last week with a distinguished panel of judges including: Linda Murphy, wine editor for the SF Chronicle, Virginie Boone, Dan Berger, Peggie Christiansen, wine buyer for Whole Foods, and many others.
The organically grown contenders made a very strong showing in the pack of all the wines, winning a number of double golds and golds in addition to the silver and bronze categories.
Here's a list of all the winners on the competition web site. My own list of the organic-only double gold and gold winners is below.
DOUBLE GOLD
Cabernet Sauvignon
Paul Dolan, $25
Where else can you find a double gold Cab for $25? Only in Mendocino. Paul Dolan is such an industry veteran. It's nice to find quality and value together in the same bottle - and at this price. One more reason to pay a lot of attention to Mendocino's wines.
GOLDS
WHITES
• Blended White
Atrea The Choir, $20
This wine, on a number of top tier restaurant wine lists, keeps proving itself over and over to be a great bargain. It's a white Rhone blend. And affordable!
• Sauvignon Blanc
Patianna, $15.99
Year after year, Patianna keeps getting critical acclaim for their SB. This year is no exception. Hmmm...wonder what they are doing right over there? Is it the vineyard? The winemaking? Or both? Also, nice to see another affordable wine top the list.
REDS
The Testa win here is a surprising and exciting story. This little newcomer, ranking right up there with the likes of veterans Paul Dolan and John Fetzer (Atrea)? A real human interest story there. (You've heard about Testa's story in previous posts here...)
• Cabernet Sauvignon
Barra of Mendocino (2004), $42
Barra put its best foot forward and got the recognition it deserves. This was Charlie Barra's 59th Harvest wine.
Frey took the gold last year in this category, so they must be doing something right, too, to win gold year over year on this wine.
• Pinot Noir
Masut, $40
Already a heavyweight winner in several other competitions, it's nice to see this wine getting local recognition in a region where there are more than a few powerhouses in Pinot. There were nine Pinot Noir golds this year. Masut was the only organic one. In fact, this is not only organic, but also biodynamic.
I have to say this is one of my personal favorite wines. Join the wine club and get it for $25 a bottle! It's also on some prestigious restaurants' wine lists.
DESSERT
Yorkville Cellars won a number of silvers and bronzes - but this one took the gold. It was a one-off experiment of a wine, since this is a pretty unusual sweet wine to make. See more about it in this video.
I will post the silver and bronze winners in a separate post.
I just, for reference, checked the Sonoma Wine Competition winners from 2010 to get a feeling for how many organically grown wines were entered and won. One gets the feeling in reviewing the lists of winners in Sonoma that many of the best wineries do not participate in the county competition and are not represented. Only about 1-2 percent of the winners are from organic wineries, mostly Imagery with the occasional wine from Hawley or Michel-Schlumberger.
As for Napa, I searched online for a Napa wine competition, but didn't find one. Does one exist? If you know, let me know.
The Mendocino County Competition appears to have broader participation among the region's wineries, which makes these winners all the more outstanding in their field.
The organically grown contenders made a very strong showing in the pack of all the wines, winning a number of double golds and golds in addition to the silver and bronze categories.
Here's a list of all the winners on the competition web site. My own list of the organic-only double gold and gold winners is below.
DOUBLE GOLD
Cabernet Sauvignon
Paul Dolan, $25
Where else can you find a double gold Cab for $25? Only in Mendocino. Paul Dolan is such an industry veteran. It's nice to find quality and value together in the same bottle - and at this price. One more reason to pay a lot of attention to Mendocino's wines.
GOLDS
SPARKLING
[TIED with French powerhouse Roederer Estate]
This is nothing short of astonishing.
Last year, another "local yokel" (I exaggerate), McFadden Vineyard (a 3,000-case winery) TIED the multimillion-dollar, French-owned Roederer Estate (100,000 cases a year) in the sparkling wine category. This year humble McFadden scored a silver (more on that in a later post).
I have thought for awhile that Terra Savia's sparkler was hot (in previous posts) but this confirms it. Being tied with French giant Roederer must really be something for Terra Savia's Jim Milone to celebrate.
Last year, another "local yokel" (I exaggerate), McFadden Vineyard (a 3,000-case winery) TIED the multimillion-dollar, French-owned Roederer Estate (100,000 cases a year) in the sparkling wine category. This year humble McFadden scored a silver (more on that in a later post).
I have thought for awhile that Terra Savia's sparkler was hot (in previous posts) but this confirms it. Being tied with French giant Roederer must really be something for Terra Savia's Jim Milone to celebrate.
Atrea The Choir, $20
This wine, on a number of top tier restaurant wine lists, keeps proving itself over and over to be a great bargain. It's a white Rhone blend. And affordable!
• Sauvignon Blanc
Patianna, $15.99
Year after year, Patianna keeps getting critical acclaim for their SB. This year is no exception. Hmmm...wonder what they are doing right over there? Is it the vineyard? The winemaking? Or both? Also, nice to see another affordable wine top the list.
REDS
• Blended Red
The Testa win here is a surprising and exciting story. This little newcomer, ranking right up there with the likes of veterans Paul Dolan and John Fetzer (Atrea)? A real human interest story there. (You've heard about Testa's story in previous posts here...)
• Cabernet Sauvignon
Barra of Mendocino (2004), $42
Barra put its best foot forward and got the recognition it deserves. This was Charlie Barra's 59th Harvest wine.
• Petite Syrah
Frey Wines, $14 (Sulfite free)
Frey took the gold last year in this category, so they must be doing something right, too, to win gold year over year on this wine.
• Pinot Noir
Masut, $40
Already a heavyweight winner in several other competitions, it's nice to see this wine getting local recognition in a region where there are more than a few powerhouses in Pinot. There were nine Pinot Noir golds this year. Masut was the only organic one. In fact, this is not only organic, but also biodynamic.
• Italian Reds
Chiarito Nero d'Avola, $32 (not CCOF but practicing organic)
I have to say this is one of my personal favorite wines. Join the wine club and get it for $25 a bottle! It's also on some prestigious restaurants' wine lists.
DESSERT
I will post the silver and bronze winners in a separate post.
I just, for reference, checked the Sonoma Wine Competition winners from 2010 to get a feeling for how many organically grown wines were entered and won. One gets the feeling in reviewing the lists of winners in Sonoma that many of the best wineries do not participate in the county competition and are not represented. Only about 1-2 percent of the winners are from organic wineries, mostly Imagery with the occasional wine from Hawley or Michel-Schlumberger.
As for Napa, I searched online for a Napa wine competition, but didn't find one. Does one exist? If you know, let me know.
The Mendocino County Competition appears to have broader participation among the region's wineries, which makes these winners all the more outstanding in their field.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Mike Lee, Kenwood's Organic Pioneer, Dies
I met Mike Lee on Sunday at the Hopland SIP Mendocino tasting room. This delightful man poured a flight of four Patianna wines and urged me to meet Patty Fetzer, giving me her number, when I told him I was writing a book about organically grown wines.
It was obvious he was a special kind of person and within a few seconds of hearing about his experiences, running Kenwood, and converting its 250 acres from conventional to organic, I realized I could learn a lot from him. We said we'd talk later this week.
I read the news on Tuesday of his death on Monday - at 66. He'd had a heart attack while playing a golf game in Santa Rosa.
Life is so precious.
Although I only had 15 minutes of time with Mike, it was clear he was a special person with a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience. I only wish we'd had more than 15 minutes.
My heart goes out to his family, friends and Patianna pals. I am sure he will be deeply missed.
A bit of his legacy, according to the Patianna web site profile:
"Reflecting on his 40 years in the wine business, Mike describes the enormous changes he has witnessed. “When I started in 1970, 80% of the tanks in Sonoma County were made of redwood,” he remembers. There have been important improvements in crushing, pressing, aging and cellaring, but Mike thinks that the changes in the vineyard have produced the most dramatic, positive changes in wine quality. “Today,” he says, “the focus is on the vineyard, not the celebrity winemaker.”
It was obvious he was a special kind of person and within a few seconds of hearing about his experiences, running Kenwood, and converting its 250 acres from conventional to organic, I realized I could learn a lot from him. We said we'd talk later this week.
Life is so precious.
Although I only had 15 minutes of time with Mike, it was clear he was a special person with a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience. I only wish we'd had more than 15 minutes.
My heart goes out to his family, friends and Patianna pals. I am sure he will be deeply missed.
A bit of his legacy, according to the Patianna web site profile:
"Reflecting on his 40 years in the wine business, Mike describes the enormous changes he has witnessed. “When I started in 1970, 80% of the tanks in Sonoma County were made of redwood,” he remembers. There have been important improvements in crushing, pressing, aging and cellaring, but Mike thinks that the changes in the vineyard have produced the most dramatic, positive changes in wine quality. “Today,” he says, “the focus is on the vineyard, not the celebrity winemaker.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)