Willows Lodge and its restaurant Barking Frog announced the winners Monday of its third annual Golden Grapes Awards held Sunday, March 3. The sold out event celebrated the “best of the best” wines made in Woodinville Wine Country determined by the winemakers themselves. The winners and two runners up in each of the seven eligible categories were:
· King’s Cup Winner
Pondera Winery, SVS Number One, Bordeaux Blend, Conner Lee Vineyard, 2009
· Sauvignon Blanc
o Winner: Di Stefano, CV, 2011
o Runner Up: DeLille Cellars, Chaleur Blanc, CV, 2011
o Runner Up: Woodinville Wine Cellars, CV, 2011
· Chardonnay
o Winner: Brian Carter, Array, CV, 2010
o Pondera, Chardonnay, CV, 2011
o Gorman Winery, Big Sissy, CV, 2010
· Cabernet Sauvignon
o Winner: William Church, CV, 2009
o Sparkman, Rainmaker, CV, 2010
o Alta Vineyards, CV, 2009
· Bordeaux Style Blends
o Winner: Pondera Winery, SVS Number One, Conner Lee Vineyard, CV, 2009
o Runner Up: Woodinville Wine Cellars, Indomitable, CV, 2009
o Runner Up: Tenor, 1:1, CV, 2009
· Syrah
o Winner: Guardian Cellars, informant, Wahluke Slope, 2010
o William Church, CV, 2009
o Stevens Winery, Black Tongue, Yakima Valley, 2010
· Rhone Style Red Varieties
o Winner: Darby Winery, Flipside, CV, 2011
o DeLille Cellars, Métier, Yakima Valley, 2010
o Brian Carter Cellars, Byzance, CV, 2009
The Golden Grapes Awards were hosted by Barking Frog Wine Director Matt Davis, who invited more than 50 Woodinville wineries to compete this year. More than 30 winemakers participated. Judging took place during three private events in February and all entries were reviewed in a side-by-side, blind tasting by category. Judges ranked each wine on six qualities: Appearance (1 point), Aroma (5 points), Flavor (5 points), Body (4 points), Balance (4 points), Overall Impression (6 points) – for a total of 25 points.
“Only winemakers and winemaking staff were allowed to be judges, and the scale is weighted toward their overall impression,” Davis said in a news release. “These are truly the wines winemakers believe exemplify Woodinville wines.”
The public joined the Woodinville winemakers on Sunday, March 3 for a special awards presentation and wine tasting event in the Sammamish Ballroom at Willows Lodge in which the winners and two runners up in each category were announced. Guests also had the chance to taste many of the outstanding wines made in Woodinville Wine Country, as well as to meet and mingle with the winemakers themselves.
