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  Some Changes Have Been Made Cloverdale's annual wine competition, now in its 18th year, is changing, and indisputably is now better than ever in a number of ways. First, it has broadened its scope and changed its name. In its infancy, the competition was limited to wines produced by wineries within a nine mile "as the crow flies" radius of the Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds. That made for some interesting discussions between competition handlers and would-be winery entrants. Then it became the "Tri-County Wine Classic," which always carried a lot of questions with it, e.g. Which three counties? Or, for that matter, which three counties in which wine-producing state? The new name, announced by Bob Fraser, who has been superintendent of the tasting for about 15 of its 18 years, is "California North Coast Wine Tasting." Wines to be eligible must be produced by wineries within the BATF-designated California North Coast Appellation of Origin, or be produced from grapes grown within that Appellation. The notice of the change of name and scope of the competition was made simultaneously with the announcement that the Cloverdale Citrus Fair was moving from February to May, because the early date fell in what was usually the heart of the rainy season, which cut into attendance. Mark this well, however, the Wine Tasting (of all the winning wines) and Gourmet Food Show, will retain its spot on the calendar, Saturday and Sunday of President's Day weekend. Those dates this year are February 19 and 20. Hours of tasting will be from 1:00 to 5:00 p m, price of the ticket: $15, for a commemorative glass and five tastes. Additional tasting tickets may be purchased. As one of the judges, I can tell you, this is one tasting that you will really enjoy. The wines this year are truly outstanding - possibly because wines made from the superior harvests of the late 1990s are now being released, and are living up to the forecasts of excellence. Adding to the joy of tasting the wines is the fact that the Tasting and Gourmet Show will be presented in the main building at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, so there will be plenty of elbow room for raising those glasses up for a sniff and a sip. With 680 wines to evaluate and six panels, each group was faced with a few over 100 wines to taste. My panel sampled 105: 15 sparklers in two flights; 12 Gewurztraminers; 45 Merlots in the above $15.00 price range, and 33 Cabernets, in the under $15.00 price range. From that array, our bunch found an amazing 82 wines merited medals: 11 gold, 35 silver and 36 bronze. One of the panel leaders said judging Panel I was a tough group of judges. Maybe, but we were careful, and when there were wide variances in our opinions we discussed, argued, and came to a consensus. Bob does a fabulous job of putting his panels together, with a mix of winery personnel, writers, those in the retail and restaurant trade, and wine educators. A lot of those involved look forward to returning every year, and a few, like Mike Lee of Kenwood Winery and John Parducci, who once again has a winery of his own, have been on hand all 18 years. Our team was composed of Pat Henderson, winemaker, Valley of the Moon Winery; Mike Dunne, food and wine editor, Sacramento Bee; Ben Pearson, Manager, Santa Rosa Bottle Barn; Stefan Soltysiak, tasting room manager, Rodney Strong, and me. Our golds for sparklers went to Robert Hunter Winery 1994 Brut de Noirs, Extended Tirage, Sonoma Valley; Gloria Ferrer Caves NV Sonoma Brut, and Gloria Ferrer 1990 Carneros Cuvee. Navarro Vineyards 1998 Cuvee Traditional Gewurztraminer was the single gold in the Gewurz class. The four Merlot golds (remember, our group judged only part of the Merlot list of entrants; those selling for more that $15.00) went to deLorimier Winery 1997 Alexander Valley Merlot; V. Sattui Winery 1997, Lot 1; Nelson Estate 1997 Sonoma Valley Merlot, and Mietz Cellars 1997 Sonoma County. In the Cabs, the three golds were Fetzer 1996 Barrel Select, North Coast; Gallo of Sonoma 1997 Sonoma County, and Trellis Vineyards 1997 Sonoma County Cab. Even looking at just these 11 wines, it is fascinating to note the mix of older, larger, more established wineries with some new players, just emerging - and, obviously, emerging proudly and well. When it came time to vote for the Red and White Sweepstakes wines, 17 reds were re-poured and 11 white. Geyser Peak's 1998 Reserve Late Harvest Riesling, Dry Creek Valley, walked off with white honors, with the Red Sweeps going to another wine whose grapes were born in the Dry Creek Valley, Christopher Creek 1998 Dry Creek Zinfandel. I would like to put in a word for one of the also-rans, and urge everyone to use one of their tasting tickets to try it. In the red Sweepstakes contenders was Darryl Sattui's 1998 Gamay Rouge. Not only is this a lovely to look at, delightful to taste wine (slightly sweet at 1.5 r.s.), but ever since I tasted my first Napa Gamay in 1975 I have been a fan of the grape. Now most of the acreage has been pulled out; a great loss as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot crowd out a lot of really nice grapes, which, unfortunately cannot be sold for $2-3,000 a ton. So, if you enjoy some of the wines made from lesser-know grapes, buy a lot. Talk them up to your friends, write fan letters to the winery. Otherwise, a lot of those wines you dearly love are going to become only beautiful memories. Start your campaign by heading for Cloverdale on the 19th and 20th [ed. of February] to taste (judiciously) the 100+ wines being poured.
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