San Francisco International Wine Competition Celebrates 33rd Year with Global Array of Winners: 30 Countries and 29 States compete in America’s largest international wine competition
27 June, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — A truly international competition wrapped up on June 16th at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, where another record number of wines were evaluated at San Francisco’s Hotel Nikko judged by some of the best palates in the country. Fifty two judges from the arenas of retail, restaurants, winemaking, media, and consulting from New Zealand to Las Vegas judged 4539 wines from 1400 wineries, 30 countries, and 29 states with wines from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Nevada entering this year for the first time. Best of the Nation awards went to 22 countries including several countries emerging into the US market: Brazil, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Serbia and China among many others, proving the true international nature of this event. The Portfolio of the Year went to Remy CointreauUSA New York, New York. The Tasting Panel Magazine Winery of the Year went to J.Lohr of San Jose, California and the André Tchelistcheff Winemaker of the Year went to Brooks Painter of V. Sattui in St. Helena, California. The medal count for 2013 included 178 Double Gold awards, a distinction given when a wine unanimously wins gold medals by all the judges evaluating it, 326 Gold medals, 1427 Silver medals and 1646 Bronze medals. A complete listing of winners will be posted in early July at www.sfwinecomp.com.
J.Lohr, a pioneer in California’s Central Coast was instrumental in bringing an awareness globally of this now acclaimed region. A winery with over 900 acres of estate vineyards in Monterey County today, Lohr’s innovative research and commitment to quality earned them the Tasting Panel Winery of the Year accolade this year. Brooks Painter of V.Sattui, who earned the
André Tchelistcheff Winemaker of the Year award, has been the Director of Winemaking at V. Sattui since 2005, responsible for a portfolio of 60 different wines for the 230 acres of estate vineyards as well as grower contracts for the winery. Called the “winemaker’s winemaker” due to his extensive expertise and prominence in the field, his resume boasts positions as winemaking at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Robert Mondavi and Leeward wineries.
Director Anthony Dias Blue, renowned food and wine authority and publisher, leads and organizes one of the most important and comprehensive wine competitions in the world. Of this year’s competition he stated, “It’s thrilling to see the international aspect of this competition grow and thrive every year, to have 30 countries participate is unprecedented, showing the great excitement around the enjoyment of wine globally. Naturally we are excited about the quality and caliber of the U.S. entries every year and we see the bar of quality across the boards continue to rise.” Tim McNally, host of The Wine Show WIST in New Orleans, a respected competition judge, states of the competition, “The quality of the wine entered at SFIWC is of the highest standards, with a beautiful setting at the Nikko and an amazing staff. I love coming here!” Mike Dunne, contributor to the Sacramento Bee and judging director of the California State Fair Wine Competition shares, “Quality is the common demoninator towards earning a medal despite diverse tastes on the judging panels. It is that consensus of trained palates that makes wine competitions such as SFIWC so powerful for the consumer, we’ve done all the heavy lifting and you can be confident in a wine you buy due to our collective effort.”
“Best of Nation” awards were presented to 23 wineries including: Antucura of Argentina, Wakefield of Australia, Casa Valduga of Brazil, Castra Rubra of Bulgaria, Inniskillin of Canada, Santa Carolina of Chile, Luvik Maderic of the Czech Republic, Enjingi of Croatia, Zacharias of Greece, Champagne COLLET of France, Mirafiore of Italy, Okunomatsu of Japan, Santo Tomas of Mexico, Quinta do Tedo of Portugal, Mazuran’s Vineyards of New Zealand, Waka Waka of South Africa, Gyeongju Beobju Co. of South Korea, Martin Codax of Spain, Black Tower of Germany, Domaine Wardy of Lebanon, Vinakoper of Slovenia, Vinarija Zvonko Bogdan of Serbia and Domaine Helan Mountain of China.
The 2013 San Francisco International Wine Competition sponsors included The Tasting Panel Magazine, Elements Design Group of San Francisco, Intaglio Productions of San Francisco, Cabot Creamery Cooperative of Berwick, Maine and the Hotel Nikko.
For a complete list of winners and judges, visit the San Francisco International Wine Competition's website: www.sfwinecomp.com. Photos can be viewed online at smugmug.com.
For interviews and additional media needs, please contact Kimberly Charles of Charles Communications Associates at press@charlescomm.com or 415-701-9463.
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