It’s almost my favorite time of year again. Nope, not the holidays — the competition season. More specifically, that would be the wine competition season. It’s without a doubt my busiest time of year, but I love it. Last season I judged in three competitions and served as Director and Chief Judge at three others.
Competitions are a treasure trove from my perspective because I get to see what’s new and taste many vintages before they’ve been released. And because I’m involved with so many competitions, I can observe a wine that has medaled consistently but has been flying under the radar.
We’ve just refreshed the San Diego International Wine Competition website (www.sdiwc.com) with new dates and deadlines and will have the Critics Challenge International Wine Competition (www.criticschallenge.com) changes ready for posting by next week.
These sites are a tremendous resource if you’re looking for an impressive wine in a particular price range. And the results on the Critics Challenge site include comments by the judges, many of them regular contributors to Wine Review Online, such as Ed McCarthy (bottom photo), Leslie Sbrocco and Nick Passmore.
Photos by Pablo Mason
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