The all-women wine competition announced here has now been run with a panel of women luminaries picking out 816 medal-winners from 30 states to be certified Women Love It!™ wines in the first-ever National Women’s Wine Competition™, held in Santa Rosa last weekend.
“Women have spoken,” said Lea Pierce, Director, National Women’s Wine Competition. “The winning wines span the full spectrum of varieties, tastes, and styles, yet all shared the characteristics of balance and elegance.” Award-winning wineries have earned the right to display Women Love It!™ and “NWWC 2007 Winner™” symbols on their bottles and websites.
The National Women’s Wine Competition was founded to recognize the influence women have on the wine industry. The majority of wine purchases in the US are made by female consumers, and the ranks of female winemakers and other wine industry professionals are growing rapidly. Yet most wine competitions are predominantly male affairs, and the wine media tends to be dominated by men.
As one might expect, if any conclusions can be drawn from this competition, it is that women love a wide variety of tastes and styles. NWWC judges awarded medals to outstanding examples of popular varietals—Merlot, Muscat, Riesling, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sangiovese, Barbera, Syrah, sparkling wines—as well as more unusual varieties such as Aglianico, Albariño, Semillon and Carignan(e). Also honoured were American heritage grapes such as Catawba, Concord, Norton and Vignoles; a variety of fruit wines including Mango-Papaya, Blackberry, Rhubarb-Raspberry, Cranberry and Cherry, plus other wine types such as Mead (honey wine).
Top award winners of the competition are:
Judges’ Choice Awards (Overall Winner of the Four Sweepstakes Categories)
General (Open) Competition:
· Palmeri Wines 2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah, Stagecoach Vineyard, Daisy and Kerry Damskey, Winemakers (Geyserville, CA). www.palmeriwines.com
Women Winemaker’s Challenge
· Veritas Winery 2005 Kenmar Traminette, Monticello AVA, Emily Pelton, Winemaker (Afton, VA) www.veritaswines.com
Sweepstakes Winners, General (Open) Competition
· Red Wines: Palmeri Wines 2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah, Stagecoach Vineyard, Daisy and Kerry Damskey, Winemakers (Geyserville, CA). www.palmeriwines.com
· White Wines: Windsor Vineyards 2005 Johannisberg Riesling, Toni Stockhausen, Winemaker (Windsor, CA) www.windsorvineyards.com
· Sparkling: Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves Gloria Ferrer NV Blanc de Noirs, Bob Iantosca, Winemaker (Sonoma, CA) www.gloriaferrer.com
· Dessert: Veritas Winery 2005 Kenmar Traminette, Monticello AVA, Emily Pelton, Winemaker (Afton, VA) www.veritaswines.com
Sweepstakes Winners, Women Winemaker’s Challenge
· Red Wines: Carol Shelton Wines, 2004 Wild Thing Zinfandel, Mendocino County, Carol Shelton, Winemaker (Windsor, CA). www.carolshelton.com
· White Wines: Snoqualmie Winery/Chateau Ste. Michelle, 2005 Snoqualmie Naked Riesling, Columbia Valley, Joy Andersen, Winemaker (Woodinville, WA) www.snoqualmie.com
· Sparkling: Domaine Carneros, NV Brut Rose Cuvee de la Pompadour, Carneros, Eileen Crane, Winemaker (Napa, CA) www.domainecarneros.com
· Dessert: Veritas Winery 2005 Kenmar Traminette*, Monticello AVA, Emily Pelton, Winemaker (Afton, VA) www.veritaswines.com
* Double Sweeps winner
Top wineries, in number of TOTAL Bronze/Silver/Gold Medals Earned:
· Hahn Estates, Napa, CA – 18 total b/s/g medals
· Windsor Vineyards, Sonoma, CA– 16 total b/s/g medals plus General (Open) Sweepstakes White Wine (2005 Johannisburg Riesling)
· V Sattui, St Helena, CA – 16 total b/s/g medals
· Chateau Ste Michelle, Columbia Valley, WA – 14 total b/s/g plus WWChallenge Sweeps White Wine (2005 Snoqualmie Naked Riesling)
· E&J Gallo, Sonoma, CA – 12 total b/s/g
· Larson Family Vineyards, Sonoma, CA – 11 total b/s/g
· Carol Shelton Wines, Sonoma, CA – 9 total b/s/g plus WWChallenge Sweeps Red Wine (2004 Wild Thing Zinfandel)
Top Gold Medal Winning Wineries
· V. Sattui, St. Helena, CA – 4 Gold Medals
· Windsor, Windsor, CA – 4 Gold Medals
Top Gold/Best of Class Winning Winery
· Carol Shelton Wines, Sonoma, CA -- 2 Gold Best of Class, 2004 Wild Thing Zinfandel Gold/ Best of Class, and WWChallenge Sweeps Red Wine and 2004 Maple Zinfandel, Gold/Best of Class
2 Double Gold Medals were awarded
(A “Double Gold” is awarded when all judges on the panel unanimously award the Gold rating):
· Gloria Ferrer, Sonoma, CA – 2003 Blanc de Blancs
· Kestrel Vintners, Prosser, Washington – 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
WWChallenge – 8 Gold/Best of Class Awarded to the following wineries and winemakers for the following wines:
· Bonterra Vineyards, Nichole Birdsall Winemaker
2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (Organically Grown Grapes)
· Carol Shelton Wines, Carol Shelton Winemaker
2004 Wild Thing Zinfandel
· Bodegas Paso Robles, Dorothy J. Schuler Winemaker
2005 Galacia Albarino
· Cambria Estate Winery, Denise Shurtleff Winemaker
2005 Cambria Estate Bench Break Chardonnay
· Beaulieu Vineyards, Domenica Totty Winemaker
2005 Marsanne, Maestro Collection
· Domaine Carneros, Eileen Crane Winemaker
NV Cuvee de la Pompadour Brut Rose
· Veritas Winery, Emily Pelton Winemaker
2005 Kenmar Traminette,
· Chateau Ste. Michelle, Joy Andersen Winemaker
2005 Snoqualmie Naked Riesling
In 2008, the National Women’s Wine Competition will be opened to non-American wines "on a limited basis". For a complete list of medal winners
and more information about the NWWC, visit www.nwwc.info.