Entering the right competition can translate to sales and recognition.
By Alexandra Russell
On April 1 – 2, 2025, a large cohort of wine professionals will gather in Santa Rosa, Calif., for one of the year’s most prestigious wine competitions. Each of these participants has been chosen based on their expertise; they are winemakers, educators, retail and restaurant buyers, marketers, consultants, sommeliers and more, gathered to judge the annual Press Democrat North Coast Wine Challenge (NCWC).
Celebrating regionality
Winemaker Daryl Groom, who has served as head judge of the NCWC since its inception 14 years ago, calls the competition “special and unique” due to its focus on regionality. “The Press Democrat North Coast Wine Challenge only welcomes wines from California’s north coast region — six specific appellations — where, it’s widely agreed, many of the state’s great wines are produced,” he says.
To qualify for NCWC, wines must be made in the California North Coast AVAs of Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, Marin and Solano counties. This includes any bottled wine labeled with these AVAs as their main source of grapes and whose winery is in California.
“Every year, we like to evolve the competition to keep up with trends that we see in the industry and with wine consumers and winemakers,” says Groom. “This year, we’ve added three new classes: no alcohol wines, orange wines and red Nouveau styles.” To ensure fair evaluation, he continues, “We will have judges who are passionate about and understand these wine types.”
Quality wines = quality judges
Because of the quality of wines eligible for entry, NCWC attracts an esteemed group of judges. “It’s a great opportunity for [our judges] to taste a wide range of wines,” says Groom. “They can get a better handle on trends and styles that are happening in real time. All of our judges love the experience and always want to come back.”
Barry Herbst, wine director for Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa, Calif., has been judging wine competitions since 1990. He enjoys “discovering new producers and finding out that some wines — that I had a preconceived notion to be bad — were actually good.”
In general, he continues, “[Competitions] provide a consensus opinion on what the best wines are. This is helpful in narrowing down choices for the consumer.” Bottle Barn, for example, has 6,000 SKUs, so that guidance often comes in handy.
“I know [competition wins and medals] are especially used for marketing direct-to-consumer by wineries, but they’re also frequently used for POS marketing in stores like ours,” he continues. “At least in our stores, [wines] can expect heightened exposure, as we do year-round displays for medal winners.”
Winners react
Matt Duffy, winemaker/owner (with his wife, Sarah Vaughn) of Sonoma County’s Vaughn Duffy Wines, says, “A win like this can do a lot for a small brand.” He speaks from experience. In 2023, Vaughn Duffy’s 2021 Bacigalupi Vineyards Pinot Noir took top honors at NCWC.
“Response was instantaneous,” Duffy remembers. “We received a few big orders that morning, but by the end of the day, it was off the hook. Our broker called asking how much we could get to Bottle Barn — and how quickly. We also got a lot of direct orders online.”
The ripple effect continued for the next several months, he adds. “We eventually had to limit purchase of the winning wine, but since we had also entered others that had won gold or double gold, were able to draw sales across the wines.” It’s a good problem to have.
Winemaker Miro Tcholakov, whose Trentadue Winery 2021 La Storia Cuvee 32 was named best of the best in 2024’s NCWC, says, “Winning last year gave us the opportunity to reach new audiences — especially locally, where we saw retail bumps at Bottle Barn, Oliver’s Markets and Costco in Marin, among others.”
New promotional opportunities
Immediately after the sweepstakes judging on April 2, NCWC results will be announced during a live broadcast featuring Groom, representatives from the Press Democrat newspaper and various judges and winners.
All gold and double gold medal winning wines will be invited to pour at the North Coast Food and Wine Festival, taking place June 14, 2025, in Santa Rosa. Gold medal winning wines will also be featured in the Press Democrat newspaper starting the week after the competition and leading up to the popular annual event.
“The PD does a great job of promoting the winners, especially the Food and Wine Festival, which brings consumers together with local food and wine and the industry,”’ says Duffy. “It really gets people interested.”
Beginning this year, NCWC will also identify a Winemaker of the Year, which will go to the winemaker who has the best results across a wide range of wines. “To be eligible for consideration, a winemaker must enter a minimum of three wines,” explains Groom. “Winemakers with the highest percentage of gold medals will be in the running.” NCWC’s Winemaker of the Year will be announced in the harvest edition of Sonoma magazine.
“Another new addition is the introduction of weekly webinars after the competition results are announced,” says Groom. “The webinars will be with winemakers who have the sweepstakes-winning wines along with chefs that will be featured at the North Coast Food and Wine Festival.”
Leave no stone unturned
As wineries of all sizes look for ways to capture the attention of both seasoned wine consumers and newcomers alike, the importance of competitions shouldn’t be overlooked. Medals and scores are an easy and reliable way to identify wines that are worth trying.
“You can’t just sit and wait for people to find you,” says Tcholakov. “You have to do something and I think this competition is meaningful. It’s targeted in a way that gets consumers excited. This area’s wine buyers are knowledgeable, so you need credentials to impress them.”
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Deadline for early bird entry rates for the 2025 Press Democrat North Coast Wine Challenge is Friday, March 7. Final entry deadline is March 21. For more information, go to www.pdncwc.com.
Alexandra Russell
Alexandra Russell is Managing Editor at Wine Industry Advisor. She can be reached at arussell@wineindustryadvisor.com.
