Tasting Room Profitability Conference & Trade Show
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer Merletti (800.535.5670 x105, jmerletti@vwm-online.com)
Wine Educator William Traverso to Chair Grand Harvest Awards
and West Coast Wine Competition
Santa Rosa, California (December 16, 2008) -- The publisher of Vineyard & Winery Management magazine today announced the appointment of wine expert Bill Traverso as chairman of its Grand Harvest Awards and West Coast Wine Competition.
“My mission is to deliver the quality competitions that wineries have come to expect from Vineyard & Winery Management,” said Traverso.
In addition to more than 35 years as wine buyer for Traverso’s Gourmet Food and Wine, Santa Rosa, the new chairman has notable experience as a professional wine judge and consultant. He was chairman of the Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition for 10 years and is currently a member of the Board of Visitors and Fellows at the Viticulture and Enology Department, University of California Davis. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Santa Rosa Junior College, teaching in the wine studies program.
“We are proud to have Bill Traverso chairing these wine competitions,” said Robert Merletti, president and publisher of Vineyard & Winery Management. “His longstanding professionalism and expertise within the wine industry are the perfect complement to two of the oldest and most respected wine competitions in North America.”
The 19th Grand Harvest Awards will be held February 18-20, 2009. Unlike other wine competitions, the Grand Harvest Awards present entries according to regional classification rather than by varietal name and price. Judges identify the signature elements of terroir and its link to regional typicity. The competition traditionally includes entries from numerous U.S. and Canadian wine regions plus a few from overseas.
Online registration for the Grand Harvest Awards is now available at www.vwm-online.com/gha. The entry deadline is January 16, 2009. Phone 800.535.5670 x100 for additional information.
The Grand Harvest Awards is the only North American wine competition that judges wine according to regional classifications. Wines of particular appellations are arranged in flights and tasted by judges selected for their knowledge of regional characteristics. In contrast, other competitions group wines by varietal name and suggested retail price.
Beyond the determination of medal-winning wines, the Grand Harvest Awards also identifies the finest examples from individual viticultural areas and acknowledges the influence of terroir on wine quality. After scoring, judges are permitted to discuss their respective flights and seek to identify the distinctive elements of terroir and its link to regional typicity (signature characteristics that are common to wines from particular growing regions).
While it is has no textbook definition, terroir is considered to be the combined expression of soil, topography and climate in the aroma and flavor of wine beyond grape variety, clone, rootstock, cultural practices and winemaking techniques.
The 27th West Coast Wine Competition is scheduled for April 22-24, 2009. The wine industry event recognizes outstanding wines produced in western states and around the Pacific Rim: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Baja California, British Columbia, Australia and New Zealand. The deadline to enter is March 20, 2009. Online information will be available in January 2009.
Judges for both competitions are the best in the industry, and are members of the wine media, wine marketers and consultants, researchers, restaurateurs, sommeliers and winemakers.
About the producer
Vineyard & Winery Services Inc. publishes Vineyard & Winery Management magazine (www.vwm-online.com), the Wine Industry Index and Wineries of the Index on compact disc. Based in Santa Rosa, California, the multimedia corporation produces seminars, conferences and trade shows (Wineries Unlimited, Wine Club Summit, Tasting Room Profitability, Managing the Winery Laboratory) as well as three wine competitions (Grand Harvest Awards, International Eastern Wine Competition, and West Coast Wine Competition).
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