Speaking of wine competitions, which were the subject of my column last week, I have an exciting new event on the horizon — the Winemaker Challenge.
This event in January 2010 will be staged with winemakers as the judges, a la the Critics Challenge (wine journalists only) and the Sommelier Challenge (sommeliers only).
I’ve spent the past week or so rounding up winemakers, and just today got a commitment from Merry Edwards, a winemaker whose career spans the evolution of modern California winemaking
I blog about Merry over at Whitley On Wine, and it’s safe to say I’m happy to have her on board. The Winemaker Challenge also has lined up another historically significant winemaker in Gary Eberle, who introduced the first syrah cuttings to Paso Robles in the early 1970s.
Other winemakers signed up this far include Hans Backhoff of Baja California’s famed Monte Xanic; Jac Cole of Spring Mountain Vineyards; Amy Butler, who has been doing wonderful things at Paso Robles’ newish Edward Sellers; Adam LaZarre of Paso’s Villa San-Juliette; Cuvaison’s Steven Rogstad; Etienne Cowper of Wilson Creek; Duncan Williams of Fallbrook; a tentative yes from Jeff Gafner of Saxon Brown, who, by the way, makes an incredible semillon; the wizard Clark Smith of WineSmith; and the globetrotting Dave Stevens of Davon International.
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