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When
you walk into a wine store, there are rows of wines awaiting your
discovery. But how do you to
select the right one? There
are many factors to consider, and often the mention of winning a medal at
a wine competition can influence your choice.
For this reason, wineries compete in wine competitions hoping to
win a medal that they can promote in order to influence your purchase. This
past weekend, 117 such medals were presented at the 22nd annual
Ottawa
Wine and Food Show to the winners of the Cellars of the World Wine
Competition. This prestigious wine competition that attracts wineries from
all corners of the world, was managed by The Savvy Grapes.
The weeks leading up to the competition day, required hours of
receiving, categorizing and logging 425 bottles of wines.
On
the day of the competition, swirling and sipping took place behind closed
doors. A panel of 25 judges, consisting of wine writers, wine industry
professionals, wine consultants and accredited Sommeliers were divided
into groups based on their preference of wine styles.
Throughout the morning, each group judged 60 plus wines ‘blind’
without knowledge of the winery, country or vintage year.
The categories for this competition are based on style and grape
variety then further broken down into three price points; $9-14.99,
$15-19.99 and over $20. All
exhibitors at the Ottawa Wine and Food Show were invited to participate in
the competition entering wines that they intend to serve at the show. As a
minimum, there must be three wine entries per category.
This year, the largest category was Shiraz/Rhone varietals
$9-$14.99 with over 30 entries. “The
results of wine competitions provide the wine-buying public with an
incredible guide for their future wine purchases. The wineries, the wine
agents and the general public anxiously await the results, and with good
reason—it’s amongst the medal winners that everyone can find a wine to
suit their taste and budget”, said Vic Harradine, co-author of the newly
released book newly released book, The 500 Best-Value Wines in the LCBO
and a veteran wine judge. "Winning
a medal at the Cellars of the World Wine Competition can help launch a
wine as the restaurant trade and consumers are looking for award winning
wines. This is particularly true with imported wines that are new to the
Ontario market and for new Ontario wineries that are just starting’,
explained Halina Player, owner and host of the Ottawa Wine and Food Show.
Case in point, in 2006, a little known winery, Lammershoek Winery of South
Africa, entered a selection of their wines into the competition and won
two gold medals. As a result,
these wines can now be found on premium wine lists at some of Ottawa’s
finest restaurants. This
year, Lammershoek entered their wines into the competition and won three
medals including a gold. Mark
Cosgrove, Ottawa representative for the wine agency Churchill Cellars Ltd
stated, “Participating in the Cellars of the World Wine Competition is
important to Churchill Cellars and winning an award can have significant
impact at the Ottawa Wine and Food Show. People visit our booth
specifically to try the wines that have won medals. We are proud to
have received ten awards this year (2007). We will definitely have a
busy booth!” Mountain
Road Winery of Beamsville, Ontario (in the Niagara wine region) can attest
to the impact of winning a medal and a busy booth.
At last years show, this wineries’ unassuming booth attracted
people wanting to sample its award winning Mountain Road Red.
This blended red wine won gold and tied for the Best of Show Red
Wine. By the end of the show,
winery owner Steve Kocsis reported that he was totally sold out of his
inventory at the Niagara winery of this $16 wine.
<SIDEBAR>
For a complete list of the
Cellars of the World Wine Competition award winning wines, visit www.playerexpo.com/WineShow/Visitors/Competition.htm
___ If you would like to re-publish this article or would like The Savvy Grapes to write in your publication, contact Debbie directly. Cheers! |
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