You are here: Home

Editor's blog

"No, thanks" to judging?

High-profile New York wine writers Lenn Thompson and Evan Dawson won't judge at future wine competitions, and urge other journalists to follow suit.

The complaints are valid -- but their prescription doesn't work for states like Michigan.

2X Trophy Winner!

"The Ice Wine Everyone Can Afford"

Pssssst! Hey, buddy, wanna buy a genuine trophy-winning Michigan ice wine for just $15? Doug Welsch of Fenn Valley is betting 900 cases on a one-time-only deal he figures you can't resist...

Get MichWine Updates

Wine Country Weather

Berrien Springs		79�F
Fennville		77�F
Grass Lake		75�F
Suttons Bay		75�F
Old Mission		75�F

MEDAL WATCH:

4 Best of Class, 4 double gold, 11 gold at Indy Competition

Four Michigan wines took Best of Class and four got double gold at the Indy International Wine Competition on June 16 - 18. Eleven Michigan wines took gold medals. St. Julian led the way with two Best of Class, a double gold and three golds.

Best of Class at Indy

Burgdorf's: NV Perfection (tart cherry)
Mackinaw Trail: NV "Big Red" (Chancellor)
St. Julian: NV Catawba, NV Niagara

Double gold medals at Indy

Burgdorf's: NV Perfection (tart cherry)
Brys Estate: 2007 "Artisan" Cabernet Franc
Chateau Chantal: 2007 Cabernet Franc Proprietor's Reserve, Krupka Vineyard
St. Julian: 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Braganini Reserve

Gold medals at Indy

Brys Estate: 2008 Naked Chardonnay
Cascade: NV Raspberry / Chocolate Silk
Gill's Pier: 2007 Cabernet Franc / Merlot
Leelanau Cellars: 2007 Semi-Dry Riesling, 2008 Botrytis Vignoles
Sandhill Crane: NV Raspberry
St. Julian: NV Catawba, 2008 Traminette Braganini Reserve, NV Niagara
Tabor Hill: 2004 Cabernet Franc Port, 2008 Riesling

Michigan medal winners from other recent competitions:

1 double, 20 gold at Great Lakes
4 Tasters Guild double gold
6 gold at Riverside
10 gold at Pacific Rim

The Michigan-based Great Lakes Wine Competition awarded 20 gold medals to state wines on May 19, but only one double gold -- to Leelanau Cellars' Merlot. Brys Estate and Tabor Hill grabbed four golds apiece, Fenn Valley and Sandhill Crane followed with three.

The Tasters Guild International Wine Competition, never stingy with its hardware, gave double gold to four Michigan wines -- two from Forty-Five North and one Ice Wine apiece from Brys Estate and Fenn Valley. Seventeen state wineries took home at least one of Michigan's 36 gold medals.

Six different Michigan wineries nabbed one gold medal apiece at California's Riverside Wine Competition, May 1 - 3.

Forty-Five North Winery took the specially-created Best of Show Rosé award plus two more gold medals at the Pacific Rim International International Wine Competiton, April 22-23. Tabor Hill also won three golds, St. Julian two, and two other wineries one apiece.

Dougle gold medal at Great Lakes (Oakland Community College):

Leelanau Cellars: 2007 Merlot

Gold medals at Great Lakes (Oakland Community College):

Bel Lago: 2007 Chardonnay
Brys Estate: 2007 Artisan Cabernet Franc, 2007 Estate Cabernet Franc, 2007 Estate Pinot Noir, 2007 Signature White
Chateau Chantal: NV Twilight
Chateau Fontaine: 2007 Pinot Gris
Fenn Valley: 2008 Dry Riesling, 2007 Meritage, 2007 Vidal Ice Wine
L. Mawby: NV Conservancy
Left Foot Charley: 2008 Riesling MD
Lone Oak: NV Raspberry
Sandhill Crane: 2007 Legacy, 2008 Riesling Late Harvest, 2007 Vidal Ice Wine
Tabor Hill: 2004 Cabernet Franc Port, 2007 Chardonnay, NV Cherry, 2007 Valvin Muscat

Dougle gold medals at Tasters Guild (Grand Rapids):

Brys Estate: 2007 Riesling Ice Wine
Fenn Valley: 2007 Vidal Ice Wine
Forty-Five North: 2008 Select Harvest Riesling, 2007 Cabernet Franc

Gold medals at Riverside (California):

Bel Lago: 2007 Pinot Grigio
Black Star Farms: 2008 Dry Riesling
Chateau Grand Traverse: 2007 Whole Cluster Riesling
Circa: 2007 Chardonnay
Peninsula Cellars: 2007 Dry Riesling
St. Julian: 2008 St. J Pinot Grigio

Gold medals at Pacific Rim (California):

Forty-Five North: 2008 Pinot Noir Rosé (Best of Show Rosé), 2007 Chardonnay Reserve, Peach Cremant
Chateau Chantal: 2008 Pinot Gris
Black Star Farms: 2007 Arcturos Pinot Gris
St. Julian: Blue Heron, White Heron
Tabor Hill: 2007 Dry Traminette, 2007 Traminette, Grand Mark

The Pacific Rim Competition had never awarded a Best Rosé in the past, and didn't plan to crown one this year, either.

But as Yolanda Daly, director of the Competition, emailed 45 North winemaker Shawn Walters, "Your wine certainly knocked the feet out from under the judges and caused a great stir. They were so impressed by your wine that we were forced, for the first time ever, to create a Best Pacific Rim Rosé Wine category. Beautiful wine!"

And just in case you were wondering, Trader Joe's "Three Buck Chuck" nabbed a gold medal in the under-$20 Cabernet Sauvignon category at Pacific Rim.

Last update: June 20, 2009

Bookmark

Email This

< Prev

Need to Know

Bill welsch dies

The founder of southwest Michigan's Fenn Valley Vineyards died on August 6 at the age of 83. He purchased the land for Fenn Valley in 1973 and built the winery three years later.

OHIO FERTILIZES vineyardS -- WITH CASH

The state of Ohio's Vineyard Expansion Assistance Program has awarded grants to 19 growers and wineries to increase their wine grape acreage, according to Wines & Vines.

Coming soon: $1 merlot?

Take a back seat, Three Buck Chuck. Dollar store goliath Dollar General says it's currently test-marketing wine at an undisclosed number of its 9000 stores in 35 states.

100-POINt bashERS: A LIBERAL PLOT

Slightly tongue-in-cheek conspiracy theory du jour by writer W. Blake Gray: opponents of the 100-point ratings meritocracy are liberal elitists who want you to drink what they like

TO THE MOON, NORTON

Just out: Todd Kliman's book on the birth, decline and recent resurgence of the offbeat American hybrid grape, Norton. Developed in Virginia, it's now Missouri's state grape.

MOVING TO NAPA?

For a cool $25 million, you could be living on the late Robert Mondavi's estate, near Yountville. The 56-acre property just put up a "For Sale" sign, says the Wall Street Journal. Sorry, no vineyards included.

WHISKEY IN YOUR TANK

Corn ethanol is so last year. According to Decanter, the latest biofuel comes from by-products of whiskey distillation, developed by scientists in -- where else? -- Scotland.

DOES RED WINE BOOST FEMALE SEX DRIVE?

Researchers in -- where else? -- Florence, Italy say women who drink red wine report higher sex drive than drinkers of other alcoholic beverages; teetotalers rank last

PA TO TEST SELF-SERVE WINE KIOSKS

Pennsylvania's state-run wine stores wlll test self-serve wine kiosks in 100 supermarkets -- but customers must first insert a drivers license and blow into a breathalyzer

HEALDS GET CHAMPAGNE AWARD

Michigan wine writers Ray & Eleanor Heald win the first-ever "Champagne Award" for their support of "place of orign" wine labels

KEEP YOUR CANOPY MANAGED!

MSU Extension guy Duke Elsner explains an arcane branch of wine-related knowledge: how to train and prune vines to grow the best grapes

SCOTT HARVEY ON THE RIESLING SCALE

Cal Riesling guru (and MI wine fan) Scott Harvey does a good job explaining the Riesling sweetness scale, coming soon to a bottle near you

Links to wine news from Michigan and elsewhere. Use the Contact Fom to let us know what should be here.

MichWine Poll

My favorite Michigan red wines are made from...

	Cabernet Franc
	Cabernet Sauvignon
	Chancellor
	Frontenac
	Merlot
	Pinot Noir
	Other grapes or blends

Recent Features

Who needs the Sky Club when there's Vino Volo?

Winery, Distillery settle lawsuit over "Grand Traverse" name

New Wines from Sandhill Crane, St. Julian Raise Funds for Charity

Top wineries' sales flat in 2008, But CGT comes on strong

REVIEWS: "ORPHAN" VARIETALS

GOVERNOR SIGNS BAN ON RETAILER WINE SHIPMENTS

How sweet is that Riesling?

Joel Goldberg's Blog

New posts every Tuesday, sometimes more or less often

WEATHER FLIP-FLOP, 2010

So far, Michigan's warm, early-maturing 2010 vintage looks like a winner for red wines -- while California is suffering one of its coolest summers in years.

A "WHAT-IF?" FANTASY

Two high-profile politicians who carried water for Michigan's wine wholesaler cartel lost big in the primary for Governor. So let's take a trip into fantasyland, where politicians do what's good for the state, rather than their contributors.

KNOW A GOOD BYO? PLEASE SHUT UP!

Michigan's consumer-unfriendly laws make most BYO illegal. So publicizing places that quietly allow it doesn't necessarily do them any favors.

BAD PRESS FOR WINE COMPETITIONS

Wine competitions may hate the name Robert Hodgson. He's putting numbers to longtime concerns about judging quality and consistency.

GUESS WHO CRASHED THE PARTY?

Yes, thank you, I believe I WILL try some Michigan Cabernet Franc next to that '86 Cheval Blanc

OLD MISSION'S CAPE CONNECTION

Mere coincidence that Old Mission's two South African-trained winemakers grabbed all the awards at the Cab Franc Challenge? Maybe not...

WINE WRITING'S ETHICAL THICKET

Why does wine writing tolerate murky ethics and apparent conflicts of interest that wouldn't be acceptable in other areas of journalism? The new AnnArbor.com is the latest media outlet to ignore such concerns.

HAS TERRY STINGLEY FOUND MICHIGAN'S "IDENTITY WINE"?

Terry Stingley

Kalamazoo retailer Stingley believes Cab Franc has the chops to become our state's flagship. And he's organizing a one-of-a-kind event to help make it happen.

MichWine Classics

Ode to the Leelanau Winemaking pioneer Larry Mawby pens a poem about his home

The South Will Rise! Wyncroft's Jim Lester likes his region's future