Monterey County wineries—as well as wineries using grapes from the county’s AVAs—claimed 50 awards of gold or above at the 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
Nine of these earned a Double Gold rating from judges, meaning the wine received gold across the board. These are:
J. Lohr Estates 2017 Wildflower Red Blend
Talbott 2016 Kali Hart Chardonnay
Chamisal Vineyards 2017 Chardonnay
Bernadus 2016 Sierra Mar Vineyard Chardonnay
Picchetti Winery 2016 Grenache
The Archivist 2016 Pinot Noir
John Ross 2014 Pinot Noir
Bernardus 2016 Gary’s Vineyard Pinot Noir
Joullian 2015 Family Reserve Syrah
Two wines were judged Best of Class:
J. Lohr Estates 2017 Falcon’s Perch Pinot Noir
Estancia 2016 Stonewall Vineyard Pinot Noir
A total of 18 of the Gold, Double Gold or Best of Class wines were of the Pinot Noir varietal, which is no surprise from a Pinot-rich region. Three of Bernardus’ Pinots—2016 Rosella’s Vineyard and 2016 Pisoni Vineyard, in addition to the Gary’s Vineyard—brought home Gold.
Eight other varietals varietals from county's vineyards or labels were honored with at least Gold: Chardonnay, Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Merlot, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Tempranillo.
Bernardus picked up five Gold and above medals from their entries. Joullian, Folktale and McIntyre earned two apiece.
Not every winery chose to participate.
Billed as the nation’s largest, the competition drew more than 6,800 wines from across the country, as well as a few from Canada. In all, 1,132 wineries submitted bottles to the contest.
The judging took place over four days at the Cloverdale Citrus Fair in Sonoma. A team of 64 experts made up the judging panel.