Highest number of medals awarded as Oregon Wine quality impresses Judges. Competition was open to ALL Oregon wineries for the first time since inception. Submissions from non-festival wineries surpasses expectations
McMinnville, OR, March 31, 2021: The McMinnville Wine & Food Classic completed its 28th annual wine competition on Saturday 3/27/21 despite Covid restrictions. Judging was postponed from January 9th due to the pandemic. The wine competition supports the main event – the consumer festival in March – which has been canceled until 2022. Both the competition and festival are dedicated fundraisers for McMinnville’s St. James Catholic School and have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for programs benefiting the school’s children. Organized and staffed entirely by volunteers, the Classic is one of the largest community events of the year in Oregon. For more information, visit https://macclassic.org/
The wine competition draws professional judges from across the U.S., although this year travel was restricted to west coast judges, many of whom drove to McMinnville. The judging panel continues to represent the full spectrum of the wine industry, including wine buyers, sommeliers, wine writers from local, regional and national media outlets, wine educators, and professional judges from industry titans like Fred Meyer Stores, Made in Oregon, Great Northwest Wine, the Oregon Wine Press, and Wine Press Northwest. You can find the 2021 Judges Panel on the website.
Taking home top honors in 2021 was South Stage Cellars, whose 2019 Romeo & Juliet White Blend claimed Best of Show and Best White Wine, while Best Red and Best Pinot Noir went to Ferraro Family Vineyards for their 2016 Pinot Noir. Cardwell Hill Cellars won again this year, this time for Best Chardonnay, for their 2019 The Bard Chard. Iris Vineyard’s 2019 Rose’ of Pinot Noir won Best Rose’, while Relik Winery gained the top spot in the Best Sparkling Wine category for their 2019 Sparkling Grenache. Rounding out the awards was Flourishing Palm Cellars 2017 Cab Franc for Best Dessert Wine.
A complete list of Winery Awards can be found here: https://macclassic.org/wine-competition-awards/
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