Accolades
Tri-Cities Wine Festival - October, 2009
The Tri-cities Wine-fest is one of the oldest and largest wine competitions and public tastings in the Northwest. The Wine-fest had its debut in 1979 with 15 wineries and now features wineries from all three states and Brit. Columbia. This year the festival moved to the larger and more modern Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, due to the size demands generated by the over 90 participating wineries, and their 387 wine entries, submitted for tasting and judging. The event is held the first Saturday evening of November and the public is invited to attend and taste all of the wines entered. Over 900 people attended this years Wine-fest. Four local restaurants were invited to serve complimentary small plate dishes that were a highpoint for the evening. Ticket receipts support worthy wine educational and vocational programs throughout the Tri-cities and wider Columbia Valley.
Five experienced wine judges plus a sixth non-voting judge formed the panel for this years event. Wines were tasted blind over the prior 2 week period with top-scoring wines tasted several times. Winners were announced during the evenings Public wine-tasting in the following categories: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Double Gold, Double Gold - Best of Varietal Class and Best of Show. Some of the largest wineries in the Northwest were entrants (Chateau Ste Michele, Hogue, Three Rivers, Hedges … as well as some of the smallest – Rock Meadow Cellars definitely falls in the latter category. New wineries are always present and this year, the three State community colleges with vinology programs, from Walla Walla, South Seattle and Tri-cities also entered wines… and all three won medals.
This was Rock Meadow Cellars second year as an entrant for both the judging and the tasting. Even with the change in label design for the 2007’s, several visiting wine-tasters and winery representatives remembered us from last year, particularly our Rockin Red Blend and our “rookie” year success story – 4 medals!
The upbeat atmosphere generated by the event is contagious and the number of outstanding wines, representing all of the major and minor varietals, both reds and whites, is numbing. Many of the participating winery representatives circulate during the evening at least once, throughout all of the winery entrants, freely discussing winery and production topics, such as technique and vineyard sourcing, so the event can be a learning experience as well as a business development base for those that take advantage of the considerable expertise at the event.
While the visiting public meandered and perused all of the winery tables, stopping by for 1-1/2 oz. pours in their complimentary “wine-fest” glasses, the event sponsors circulated with their awards to pass out …. first the bronze awards, then silver, gold and then the top awards for double gold and Best of Show. It was quite exciting to be pouring wine and have the awards team show up at your table and announce your medal over the PA system for all to hear. Generally, this leads immediately to many more visitors stopping by and asking for a taste. Occasionally, a wine industry professional comes by to seriously taste and ask questions.
Rock Meadow Cellars again fared very well indeed at the Wine-fest. A bronze medal each for our 2007 Columbia Valley Syrah and our 2008 Columbia Valley Chardonnay, was quickly followed by a silver medal for the 2007 Columbia Valley Cabernet Franc. As the evening drew to a close, the Gold medals were awarded and Rock Meadow Cellars again struck “gold” with its signature Rockin Red Blend. With anticipation growing throughout the event center, the final awards were announced at 9:30 PM and the Rock Meadow 2007 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon won a Double Gold. Just as gratifying, however, were the many kudos we received from the visiting Public for our consistent quality amongst all of our wines.
Awards Won:
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon - Double Gold
2007 Rockin' Red - Gold
2007 Cabernet Franc - Silver
2007 Syrah - Bronze
2007 Chardonnay - Bronze
Washington States most prestigious Seattle Wine Awards
were announced in May, 2009. Fifteen of the Northwest’s most prominent wine specialists evaluated 771 Washington Wines in their retail release categories...drumroll...:
SILVER- Rock Meadow Cellars 2006 Cabernet Franc ($20-under)
BRONZE – Rock Meadow Cellars 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
($35-up. As you know we were priced at $24 – but they put us in with the Big Boys)
Tri-Cities Wine Festival – October, 2008
And the winners are ...
GOLD – Rock Meadow Cellars 2006 Rockin’ Red
GOLD – Rock Meadow Cellars 2006 Cabernet Franc
SILVER – Rock Meadow Cellars 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
BRONZE – Rock Meadow Cellars 2006 Syrah