Foreign wineries entering U.S. competitions, especially those based in California, generally do so at their own peril. The home-field advantage for domestic wines is "palatable," considering the local wines are the most familiar and thus the most comfortable to evaluate for your garden-variety wine judge, who in most cases works in some capacity in the wine industry.
Not so at the Critics Challenge International Wine Competition, staged annually in San Diego, Calif., for the past eight years. Foreign entries ruled, at least in the championship round, at the 2011 Critics Challenge over Memorial Day weekend.
The G.H. Mumm Brut Rose Champagne ($70) was voted Wine of the Year and Best of Show sparkling wine by a wide margin among the 15 internationally known wine journalists/critics who spent two days tasting and rating nearly 1,400 entries from 16 nations.
The Wine of the Year vote came after the competition had been narrowed to five Best of Show wines: Hagafen 2010 White Riesling, Devoto Vineyards, Lake County ($18, best white); Cakebread Cellars 2007 Merlot, Napa Valley ($54, best red); Robert Oatley 2010 Rose of Sangiovese, Mudgee, Australia ($15, best rose); Inniskillin 2007 Vidal Ice Wine VQA, Niagara Peninsula, Canada ($60, best dessert wine); and the Champagne Mumm Brut Rose as best sparkling.
Mumm claimed nine votes from the 15 judges. The Hagafen Riesling was runner-up with four votes. The triumph by Mumm marked the third time in eight years that a Champagne house had taken the top prize at Critics Challenge. The Critics Challenge is unique among wine competitions in that all of the judges are noted wine journalists with multiple book, magazine and newspaper columns on the resume.
Champagne Mumm also received the Director’s Award as Winery of the Year for its stellar performance, which included gold awards for the other two G.H. Mumm wines entered — Mumm de Cramant Grand Cru ($75) and Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut ($35).
In addition to the major prizes, 681 awards were given to wines of merit — nearly half of the 1,380 wines entered. Critics Challenge recognizes exceptional wines with silver and gold awards, with a handful attaining platinum status by advancing to the championship rounds, where Best of Show and Wine of the Year are determined.
All of the winners have been posted on the Critics Challenge results page, and I have taken note of several of the most impressive performances. To wit:
Bracey Vineyards, a little-known boutique brand produced at a custom-crush facility in Northern California, entered six wines and medaled with five, including platinum awards for its 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain ($70) and 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon "TKL", Oakville ($75).
Cakebread Cellars, a Napa Valley mainstay, entered but two wines and placed both in the championship round. Besides the Best of Show red wine, the 2007 Merlot, Cakebread earned platinum with its 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($61).
Cameron Hughes, a San Francisco-based negociant, picked up a stunning total of 14 awards, including four golds. Cameron Hughes purchases odd lots of finished wine from super-premium wineries and bottles them under his own name at a fraction of the price the wines would sell for at the source. For example, one of his gold winners is a 2008 Meritage, Napa Valley that retails for $13. The price range on his 14 award-winners was a low of $10 and a high of $22.
Frogtown Cellars, the Lumpkin County, Ga., winery that was the subject of a recent Wine Talk column, took four awards — all gold. Frogtown scored with its cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and tannat.
Frank Family Vineyards of the Napa Valley continued its strong performance in wine competitions this year with gold awards for the only two wines it entered — the 2009 Pinot Noir, Carneros ($35) and 2009 Chardonnay, Carneros ($32.50).
Gloria Ferrer, the Carneros winery that specializes in sparkling wine, gathered nine medals, but its two platinums were both for pinot noir — the 2007 Estate Pinot Noir ($22) and the 2006 Rust Rock Terrace Vineyard ($40). Another pinot and three of its sparkling wines earned gold.
Gnarly Head scored big for the value wines, winning a platinum with its 2010 California Chardonnay ($10.99) and gold for its 2009 Lodi Zinfandel ($10.99).
Jacobs Creek, another value wine from Australia’s Barossa Valley, won nine awards, including one platinum and three golds, with no wine costing more than $13.99. The platinum winner was the 2010 Dry Riesling, Barossa ($13.99).
John Duval, the man and the winery, entered three wines from Barossa and took one platinum and two golds. Duvall, the man, was the longtime winemaker for Penfolds Grange, Australia’s most important wine. Duvall, the wine, is not cheap. Its platinum-winning shiraz, the 2006 Eligo, retails for a cool $100.
Jordan Vineyard & Winery, long a star in California’s Alexander Valley, entered but two wines — its 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley ($52) and its 2009 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley ($29) — and took a gold award with each.
Kilikanoon is a rocking winery in Australia’s Clare Valley, and it was on its game in the 2011 Critics Challenge, winning nine awards, including two platinums — 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Block’s Road ($30) and 2010 Riesling, Mort’s Block, Watervale ($20) — and four golds.
Lafond Winery of Santa Barbara had two pinots in the championship round, including the Best of Class Pinot Noir, the 2006 Pinot Noir, Lafond Estate Vineyard ($48). Its other platinum pinot was the 2009 SRH ($27). Lafond also won a gold award with its 2007 Chardonnay, Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills ($38).
V. Sattui, perhaps the Napa Valley’s most award-winning winery, took the prize for most medals at the 2011 Critics Challenge with 15. Seven of those were gold, but for the first time in recent memory V. Sattui failed to place a wine in the championship/platinum round of Critics Challenge, where it has been Winery of the Year twice. Despite the fact the ground didn’t move, that counts as an earthquake at the Critics Challenge.
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