Dining Around with Gene Burns

Saturday 10am-1pm 

2005

San Francisco Chronicle

Wine Competition

Korbel Champagne Cellars

Brut Rose California Champagne

Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc

2004 Napa Valley

Earthquake

2003 Petite Sirah

Michael David Winery Lodi

Rain fell as fifty-five judges from around the country began checking in at the Cloverdale Inn on Tuesday January 25^th. The weather may have reflected their mood since the task before them was daunting – reduce more than three thousand two hundred wines to just three Sweepstakes winners, the best sparkling wine, the best white wine and the best red wine. Along the way the judges working in panels of five would declare fifty-five wines the Best in their Class, award 33 Double Gold Medals (a unanimous gold vote), 345 Gold Medals and 210 Silver Medals. It was an intense two and a half days. The panels of judges were set up in individual enclaves walled off by drapes in the Cloverdale Citrus Fair Building. Each panel had two staff people to co-ordinate the tasting flights usually consisting of ten numbered wines rach and then to tabulate and record the results. With bread, water and for the big red wines, slices of roast beef to cleanse their palettes the judges swirled, sniffed, sipped and (pardon the indelicacy) spit their way through the day. Flight after flight came and went to the cadence of judge’s verbally rendering their verdicts. The rhythmic participation, bronze, silver minus, gold plus, no award, broken only occasionally by blurted exclamations such as the irrascibly loveable John Parducci’s lament over one entry: "Why the hell would you put this in a bottle?"! The highly respected eighty-seven year old pioneer of Mendocino winemaking could also be generous in his assessment of a fellow winemaker’s efforts. In one case he asked fellow judges: "What more could you expect a winemaker to do with grapes?" and promptly awarded the wine in question a gold. And so the time went, three hours of tasting, a lunch break and then three more hours of tasting. Our lunches prepared by Gino the cook and supervised by Annie and the rest of the kitchen staff were home-cooked and delicious! These wonderful lunches were emblematic of both the collegial feeling among the judges and the superb organizational work done by Competition Director Bob Fraser, his capable assistant Ray Johnson and a squadron of enthusiastic volunteers whose pride in their region and event was evident at every turn. Keeping a panel of five judges supplied with the elements needed for a successful session and contented besides is no small feat. The San Francisco Chronicle ably represented throughout our labors by North Bay Sales Director Dennis Banks could not have been more accommodating. Indeed the very idea of the Chronicle and the Cloverdale Citrus Fair combining their efforts to stage the competition can be traced to Dennis Banks and his personal passion for the area and its wine making skill. Jess Jackson and the gang at Kendall Jackson Wine Center in Santa Rosa rolled out the red carpet and served up some of their portfolio’s excellent wines at a gala judges reception and dinner on Thursday evening. Even the bus ride from the Cloverdale Inn to the Wine Center turned into a special event. Retired Santa Rosa Junior College Professor Rich Thomas regaled us with tart and funny commentary on appellation and terrior as we rolled past some of the best known wine producing land in Sonoma County.

One of the great stories to emerge from the 2005 San Francisco Wine Competition was the dazzling performance of wines from Lodi one of California’s vastly under-appreciated wine producing regions. As I read the recap of medal winners and noticed the number from Lodi I couldn’t help but recall an experience of ten years ago. I had just moved to Northern California, Motivated by my passion for wine I went to a large branch of a well known national bookseller in San Francisco and purchased the Access Guide to the California Wine Country. It contained reports on the wineries of Napa and Sonoma with a few from Mendocino. There was no mention of Monterey, the Central Coast or Paso Robles. Forget even an allusion to any wineries in the Sierra Foothills, Lake County, the Gold Country or Lodi. My how time has changed these oversights!

We forget that when Italian immigrant Caesare Mondavi, patriarch of one of the California Wine Industry’s most prominent founding families, fled the bitter Minnesota winters in 1922 he moved not to Napa but first to Lodi to become a grape broker. It certainly should come as no surprise that the farm families of this region would realize if they could grow mega-tons of great grapes for the crushers of some of the state’s most famous and successful labels they were but a UC Davis degree away from doing it for themselves. Thus as the water table dropped watermelon fields became vineyards and the rest as they say is history; fairly recent history in some cases but as these awards show significant history nonetheless. Clearly the wines of Lodi deserve more attention to say nothing of more respect!

Michael David Winery

2002 Earthquake Petite Sirah

Red Wine Sweepstakes Winner

Best of Class

Michael David Winery

2004 Incognito Viognier

Best of Class

Klinker Brick Winery

2002 Old Vine Zinfandel

Best of Class

Macchia Winery

2002 Sangiovese

Best of Class

Olde Lockeford Winery

2003 Barbera

Best of Class

Olde Lockeford Winery

2003 Cabernet Franc

Best of Class

Clay Station Winery

2001 Cabernet/Petite Sirah

Best of Class

Ehlers Estate Winery

2002 Port Delta IS Estate Vineyard

Best of Class

Back stage at the competition, one day's worth of wine!

Wilfred Wong, Beverages and More