Grand Harvest Awards
About the Competition
2009 Grand Harvest AwardsLocation: Sonoma Mountain Village, Rohnert Park, California
Dates: February 18-20, 2009
The 2009 Grand Harvest Awards completed Friday, February 20, 2009. With a field of over 1600 entries from North America, Europe, South America, and the Pacific Rim, judges awarded a total of 142 Gold, 493 Silver, and 558 Bronze medals in this very competitive event where judges must agree on awarding a medal. Each panel consisted of three judges from professional fields within the wine producing, marketing and education fields.
The Search For Terroir in the North American Market Begins Here
Truly one of a kind! Established in 1990, it is the only wine-judging event in North America that is based on terroir - a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation, and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine.
In other competitions, this factor is ignored. At the Grand Harvest, judges taste wines with other wines of the same appellation. Thus, with cross-regional competition removed, the inherent quality of wines can be seen without the influences that sometimes eclipse even a wine of very high quality.
All wines are judged in the context of their viticultural region in order to accomplish two things: greater sensitivity to the complexities and nuances of regional wines and also to measure the influence of regional soil and weather characteristics on the taste and quality of individual wines.
A goal of Grand Harvest is to learn more about how terroir contributes qualities of excellence and distinctiveness to wines. Over the course of this event, judges have learned to recognize when terroir is - and is not - a factor of wine quality. We think the bar has been lifted a little, and as a result, each year we perceive greater interest in terroir by winemakers and critics alike. Favorable awards support increased local and regional sales. A win in Grand Harvest can put your wine into a whole new sales category.
2009's judging panel included:
-Dan Barwick, Winemaking Consultant
-William S. Bloxom-Carter, F&B Director/Exec. Chef, Playboy Mansion West
-Gerald D. Boyd, Freelance Wine Writer
-Sean Boyd, Winemaker, Woodinville Wine Cellars
-Mark Bunter, Owner, Bunter Springs Winery
-Christian Butzke, Enology Professor, Purdue University
-Rene Chazottes, Director of Wines, The Pacific Club
-Eric Degerman, Managing Editor, Wine Press Northwest
-Bob Foster, Editor, California Grapevine News & Director of Mid American Wine Competition
-Peter Granoff, Master Sommelier, Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant
-Joel Green, Winemaker/GM, Safe Harbor Wines
-Pat Henderson, Winemaker, Kenwood Vineyards
-Jim Lapsley, UC Davis - Dept. of Viticulture & Enology
-Ellen Landis, Sommelier/Wine Writer/ Owner, Landis Shores Oceanfront Inn
-Ken Landis, Chef/Owner, Landis Shores Oceanfront Inn
-Michael Lee, Winegrower, Montecillo Vineyards
-Charles F. Mara, President, The Mara Wine Group
-Dennis Martin, VP Director of Winemaking, Fetzer Vineyards
-Tim McDonald, Owner, Wine Spoken Here
-Dr. Richard Grant Peterson, Owner, Richard Grant Wine
-Tom Simoneau, "The Wine Guy", KSRO Radio, Windsor Vineyards, Simoneau Vineyards
-Dr. Liz Thach, Professor of Wine Business, Sonoma State University
Thanks to Sonoma Mountain Village as our 2009 official event sponsor.
