Quality Rules at Sommelier Challenge

The first Sommelier Challenge is now in the books and we are pleased to report it was a resounding success. Eleven sommeliers from some of the nation's finest restaurants gathered in San Diego September 26-27 to evaluate 552  wines from nine different countries, awarding 409 medals, including 49 platinums.

Overall quality was exceptional as the judges looked at blockbuster cabernets from  Napa and Sonoma, including Beringer Private Reserve, Freemark Abbey Bosche, Flora Springs Trilogy, Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages, Lancaster Estate, and Philippe Melka's stunning new Parallel Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon; the finest chardonnays from the Southern Hemisphere, such as Australia's Leeuwin Estate Art Series and New Zealand's Kumeu River; top European wines such as Chateau Lascombes and Chateau Laroque of Bordeaux, Rocca delle Macie of Tuscany and Osborne of Spain; and outrageously delicious Aussie shiraz, i.e., Penfolds RWT and Brokenwood Graveyard.

Our sommeliers were open-minded and fair, bestowing platinum upon the least expensive as well as the most expensive wines entered. There was an abundance of conviviality throughout the weekend -- after all, our somms are in the business of hospitality -- but they were all business as they relished the opportunity to blind taste so many wines made in so many different styles from so many different countries over the two days of tasting.

Please visit our results page and scan the impressive list of winners. We believe you will agree that the Sommelier Challenge judges certainly know good wine when it passes their lips!

PHOTOS: Top, sommeliers Anani Lawson (The French Laundry)  and George Skorka (BottleRock); bottom left, sommelier Lisa Redwine (The Shores).

Robert Whitley on Sommelier Challenge Winery of the Year.