The owners of Grapes Galore in 100 Mile House have once again won several medals at the International Winemakers Competition, among more than 4,500 entries.
While the judging for this year’s competition took place in Vermont, the subsequent awards ceremony was held in Monterey, California on May 18.
It was the first ceremony attended by Grapes Galore owners Callie McHarg and Sharon Brooks, although they have entered wines in three annual competitions, and won medals before.
“Sharon and I were flabbergasted as usual. We are always actually amazed when we win anything,” says McHarg.
About 500 people were there to hear the winning wines entered in 50 different categories, where kit wines competed alongside fresh-grape entries in a blind tasting by judges.
McHarg says they took home three gold medals, three silver and two bronze. One of the gold medals was for a Breezin’ Blackberry wine in the Sparkling Non-Grape category.
“That was really exciting. That was made from blackberries a customer brought in from their sister-in-law’s farm.”
The rest of the wines they entered were made from kits sold at the store, she explains.
4,564 entries, an event record, were judged April 19-21. These were submitted from entrants in nine countries, 50 American states and eight Canadian provinces, with 923 wine categories judged over 2,282 hours.
Entries were awarded gold, silver, bronze and best of show medals based on the average score given by the judging panel, resulting in several medal winners in each category.
Usually the trip is unaffordable for them, McHarg notes, but this time they were able to use reward miles accumulated from the business to cover the costs.
The other two gold medals were Speciality Toasted Caramel Port 2012, which she says is “yummy,” and won among 204 Entries; and a Carmenere 2012 red table wine blend made from Chilean imported juice.
McHarg’s and Brook’s Specialty Coffee Port, Kahlua flavoured, won a silver medal, as did a
Gewürztraminer 2012 made with imported German juice, and a Cabernet Sauvignon 2012.
Bronze medals were awarded to their Valpolicella Ripassa and Gewürztraminer 2012.
To see the other winners and results, visit www.winemakermag.com/competition.
