Green and gold
Posted on July 13th, 2009 – 12:29 PMBy Bill Ward
More than ever, it’s a good time to think green when it comes to wine. And I’m not talking about being in the midst of prime vinho verde season.
The winners of the 2nd annual Green International Wine Competition have been made public and can be found here. I wrote a few weeks ago about the experience of being a judge, and noted then that the wines were way better than I expected (and markedly improved from the same contest the year before, a fellow judge opined).
My judging group’s standards were pretty tough — we only awarded five golds out of 110 wines and no double golds (which requires a unanimous “going for the gold” among the judges). But we gave almost everything at least a bronze. Upshot is, there doesn’t seem to be much reason to be daunted by a bottle that has “organic” or “bioodynamic” on the label.
Now that the winners have been released, I know a few more of the wines that I loved in this blind tasting:
Montinore Borealis: One of those whites that starts crisp and then socks in some ripe (but not overly ripe) fruit and finishes clean enough to whistle, this is a blend of Muller Thurgau, gewurztraminer and pinot gris.
Summerhill “Pyramid” Gewurztraminer: Clean and tropical with a slightly sweet finish, this (damning with faint praise alert!) is probably the best still wine I’ve ever tasted from Canada. Delicious stuff.
Biokult Gruner Veltliner: An elegant beauty from Austria’s Niederosterreich region, this light, slightly spicy and refreshing white is a great example of how certain wines (gruner, muscadet) can be both bone-dry and thirst-quenching.
Alma Rosa La Encantada Viineyard Pinot Noir: Probably the wine of the day, seamlessly meshing California fruit with a Burgundian style. I’ll be writing about this winery as soon as I transcribe my interview with owner/winemaker Richard Sanford from last week.
