I recently had the honor of judging at the 2019 San Diego International Wine & Spirits Challenge (now in its 37th year!), the results of which have been published, allowing me to share some of my thoughts on a few surprises that my panel had the good fortune of tasting during the competition. When I…
Tag: wine competitions
Go West (Again), (Not-So) Young Man! (The Oregon Wine Competition 2018)
We can surely file this one in the I-still-can’t-believe-that-I’ve-fooled-everyone-for-so-long pile: I’ve been asked to judge yet another wine competition. This time, it’s the 2018 incarnation of The Oregon Wine Competition, part of the more comprehensive Oregon Wine Experience, taking place August 20-26, 2018 in Jacksonville, OR, and benefiting Asante Foundation and Asante’s Children’s Miracle Network. Historically,…
Critics Challenge 2018 Highlights
Once again, I had both the pleasure and the honor of judging at the annual Critics Challenge wine competition, held in (stay classy!) San Diego and helmed by WineReviewOnline.com‘s Robert Whitley. This year, I was paired up with talented author Linda Murphy (whose book American Wine you should absolutely check out, because it kicks all kinds…
And Then, Apparently Everyone Went Insane (Wine Competitions 2016)
“As the world fell, each of us in our own way was broken. It was hard to know who was more crazy… me… or everyone else.” – Max Rockatansky, Mad Max: Fury Road I think the wine judging world has officially gone batsh*t crazy. More on that in a minute. As many of you might…