Lake County wines awarded 37 medals in prestigious competition
Written by Editor
Sunday, 26 July 2009
SACRAMENTO – Lake County wines once again performed well at the 2009 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition, with 37 wines garnering medals, including one Double Gold, five Gold, 18 Silver and 13 Bronze awards.
First held in 1855, the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition is by far the oldest wine competition limited to vitis vinifera grapes in America and is firmly established as the most prestigious of American Wine Competitions. Many industry leaders recognize it as the most meaningful of the major competitions restricted to California wines.
At this year’s Wine Competition, more than 2,600 wine entries were received from more than 600 participating wineries. Sixty-eight professional wine judges awarded a total of 1,895 medals, including 43 Double Gold, 220 Gold, 1,028 Silver, and 604 Bronze awards.
It is the only competition that requires all wines to be entered based on the American viticultural area (AVA, also known as an appellation) where the grapes are grown, not where the winery is located.
To further focus on the event’s unique attributes and on the importance of the wine grapes, duplicate awards are presented to each single vineyard grape grower or the winery estate vineyard manager. This applies to all award-winning wines from single vineyards or estate vineyards.
This is the first wine competition in the world ever to honor the grape growers and vineyard managers this way.
Wines produced from primarily Lake County winegrapes were well-represented in medals and in varietals.
This year’s winners included zinfandel, sauvignon blanc, petite sirah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sangiovese, primitivo, chardonnay, syrah, muscat, pinot noir, pinot gris and pinot grigio, as well as blends that include other varietals.
Shannon Ridge Vineyards & Winery, which operates a tasting room on Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks, was awarded Gold with a score of 94 for both the Lake County 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and the Lake County 2007 Zinfandel. The Lake County 2007 Wrangler Red and the 2008 Lake County Sauvignon Blanc Ranch Collection were each awarded Silver. The Lake County 2008 Chardonnay Ranch Collection, Lake County 2007 Petite Sirah, and Lake County 2007 Syrah were all awarded Bronze.
After meeting at a Napa Valley winery where they both worked, Clay and Margarita Shannon would eventually use their common vision to take the reins with their own winery. Shannon Ridge uses fruit from the High Valley AVA in Clearlake Oaks, where the Shannons have pioneered more than 300 acres of mountain vineyards. Sited in blankets of brick-red earth – at altitudes up to 2,400 feet – the vineyards are nestled between the waters of Clear Lake to the south and snow-capped mountains to the north. The lean and rocky volcanic soil has kept its promise to grow vines that produce small berries with concentrated flavors, which compose the luscious, fruit-driven wines that lift Shannon Ridge’s reputation to the same elevations as the grapes that distinguish it.
