Santa Rosa, Calif., (November 19, 2018). Results are in for the 2018 Harvest Challenge, a contest judged by leading wine industry professionals ranking wines based on terroir. This year’s choice for top award was given to Brick Barn Wine Estate for its 2016 Albariño, California, Santa Ynez Valley, Estate Grown wine.
Owned and operated by Wine Competitions Management & Productions, the judging took place November 13-14, 2018 in Sonoma County, California. More than 1,000 wines were entered in the competition. Judges awarded a total of 36 Best of Show awards, 65 Best of Class designations, and 215 gold medals.
At the Harvest Challenge, 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.
Beyond the determination of medals, the Harvest Challenge affords its winners a unique selling proposition – its region ranked against its competitors.
“The specialized nature of this competition is what attracts our judges…and the wines submitted. It’s always interesting to see the outcome where the smallest nuance can influence how a judge will rate a wine against another in a shared terroir,” according to chief judge and competition owner, Debra Del Fiorentino.
A goal of Harvest Challenge is to learn how soil and climate contribute to the excellence and distinctiveness of wines. “Over the course of this event, judges have learned to recognize when a wine’s region is – and is not – a factor of wine quality” adds Del Fiorentino.
New for this year’s Harvest Challenge, the event producer has partnered with specialty printer First in Print for quality point-of-sale materials with discounted pricing for winners. Visit https://www.winecompetitions.com/harvest-challenge-promotional-items for details and to order.
Winners are listed on winecompetitions.com. An overview article will appear online at www.spiritedbiz.com and in a future issue of award-winning Spirited magazine, a nationally distributed adult beverage trade publication.
About Wine Competitions Management & Production (WCMP)
This organization owns and operates a variety of different competitions including West Coast Wine Competition, International Eastern Wine Competition, East Meets West, International Women’s Wine Competition, Harvest Challenge, and the Craft Distillers Spirits Competition, The Press Democrat North Coast Wine Challenge, and Experience Rosé. It also manages the California Cider Competition and the Mendocino Apple Show International Cider Competition.
