The eighth annual Winemaker Challenge International Wine Competition is in the books, and the two biggest winners were the Napa Valley winery V. Sattui and Italy’s Castello Banfi.
V. Sattui, a perennial star at this event, was named Winery of the Year, and Castello Banfi’s brilliant Super Tuscan, Excelsus, took the honor of Wine of the Year.
V. Sattui’s performance was nothing short of stunning. It entered 35 wines, 31 of which earned medals from the judging team of 19 professional winemakers. The haul included three platinum awards, 18 gold and 10 silver.
Sonoma County’s Francis Ford Coppola Winery was a strong contender for winery of the year with 32 medals out of 40 entered, though there were no platinum medals and fewer gold.
V. Sattui is unique among California wineries in the sense that its wines are not distributed through normal wine marketing channels. They are available for purchase only at the winery or on its website.
Castello Banfi’s Excelsus is an international blend of merlot (60 percent) and cabernet sauvignon (40 percent) grapes grown in the Tuscan district of Montalcino, a region most famous for Brunello di Montalcino made from sangiovese. Excelsus is considered one of Italy’s most collectible red wines.
Complete results for the Winemaker Challenge, staged the final weekend of January, are available on the WinemakerChallenge.com.
This week’s Reviews page features tasting notes from my own personal tastings of the wines awarded platinum. The scores are my own, although they sometimes coincide with the numerical ratings awarded by the judges.
It should be noted that the winemakers evaluate each wine blind, meaning they have no knowledge of the producer. The blind tasting is common at most wine competitions, the goal being to eliminate any hint of bias in the evaluations.
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