Stone Hill tops in Missouri again

COLUMBIA, MO -- Stone Hill Winery has emerged as winner of the Missouri Governor's Cup wine competition for the second consecutive year.

The cup is awarded to what the judges claim is the best wine in Missouri. It went to Stone Hill's 2009 Vignoles at the Missouri Wine Competition that drew 242 entries from 35 Missouri wineries last week.

The Governor's Cup-winning Vignoles was selected from a field of 12 "Best of Class" honorees:

• Sparkling -- Brut, Les Bourgeois Vineyards
• Dry White -- 2009 Dry Vignoles, Stone Hill Winery
• Semi-Dry White -- 2009 Steinberg White, Stone Hill Winery
• Sweet White -- 2009 Vignoles, Stone Hill Winery
• Dry Red -- 2008 Cross J Vineyard Norton, Stone Hill Winery
• Semi-Dry Red -- 2009 Steinberg Red, Stone Hill Winery
• Sweet Red -- Mellow Red, Pirtle Winery
• Blush -- 2009 Spring Rose, Chaumette Winery
• Fruit -- Blackberry Mead, Pirtle Winery
• Late Harvest/Ice -- 2008 Late Harvest Vignoles, Stone Hill Winery
• Dessert/Fortified -- 2006 Port, Stone Hill Winery
• Distilled -- Peach Eau de Vie Brandy, Montelle Winery

"Vignoles wines are made from one of Missouri's most versatile grapes," said Missouri Wine and Grape Board Executive Director Jim Anderson (shown above with Danene Beedle, marketing director). "This award symbolizes Stone Hill's commitment to their industry, the quality of a true Vignoles and excellence in winemaking."

The awards were based on blind tastings by 10 judges from around the U.S, including two from California and two from New York. Judges awarded 41 gold, 75 silver medals and 72 bronze medals during the two-day competition. A complete list of medalists is available online.

This year's award-winning wines will be on display in the Agriculture Building at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia from August 12 to 22.

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South Dakota wineries emerging

The other day on another of my blogs, I posted a report on wine sales in New York that contained a comment about New York grapegrowers selling their produce to such offbeat places as South Dakota to make wine.

Even though I know there are wineries in every state in the nation, I confess to not knowing much about such enterprises in South Dakota. So, I went in search of information.

Here's the opening information I found in a story in the Sioux Falls, SD, Argus-Leader about a brand-new winery that brought me very much up to date:

"At the edge of a corn field, in the middle of what looks like an endless prairie, a sign advertises 'winery' in block lettering. An arrow points down a gravel road, which leads to White Headed Robin The winery is housed in a red barn built in the 1940s. Inside, a fully-stocked wine rack holds fruit wines with custom-designed labels and names like 'Partridge in a Pear Tree' and 'Pi,' pear and cherry wines. ...

"Most people don't associate South Dakota with grapes or wineries. But wineries and vineyards dot the state, from Belle Fourche to Brandon. Last year, South Dakota had 16 farm wineries, according to South Dakota State University's Agriculture Experiment Station."

If your curiosity has been piqued, you can go here for the full story.

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Wine Institute picks international trade head

The Wine Institute has appointed a successor to its retired director of international trade policy.

Tom LaFaille (right), who had been member relations director, succeeds Joseph Rollo, who retired as of June 30.

The Wine Institute represents more than 1,000 California wineries and related companies. It functions as the trade association and lobbying group for its members.

LaFaille, a lawyer, will work with state and federal government agencies and industry groups to reduce foreign wine trade barriers and open new markets overseas, according to the Institute, representing the California wine industry on the World Wine Trade Group, the USDA’s Agriculture Trade Advisory Committee, the California Council for International Trade and other groups. He also will manage the Wine Institute’s International Public Policy Committee and serve on the institute’s Technical Advisory Committee.

Britta Purcell, who had been coordinator of member relations, succeeds LaFaille in the manager position.

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The 'sommelier's sip' -- service or impertinence?

• From The New York Times

By ERIC ASIMOV

Stephen Silberling, a tax lawyer who considers himself a knowledgeable wine drinker, could not contain his astonishment as he told me of his recent experience in a New York restaurant. He had ordered a 2007 Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône Belleruche, a wine he and his date had enjoyed so much the previous week that they decided to drink it again. As they sipped their first glass, however, they both thought the wine tasted different, and they debated whether it was flawed.

Listening to the conversation, the sommelier piped up.

"He said, 'I’ve tasted the wine, it’s fine,' "Mr. Silberling recalled. "He tasted the wine? I was very surprised. I had never heard of that being done before."

Few issues of wine etiquette seem to cause as much consternation as the increasingly common practice of a sommelier taking a small sip of wine, usually unbidden, to test for soundness. Diners often are surprised to learn that their bottle has in effect been shared with the restaurant, even if it’s just the smallest amount.

The practice, which is more common at high-end restaurants with ambitious wine lists, can make diners uncomfortable. Some believe the restaurant may be taking advantage of them by consuming wine that they have bought. Others feel demeaned, that their role of assessing the wine has been usurped.

[Go here for the full blog posting.]

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PA starts wine kiosk trial program

• From United Press International

HARRISBURG, PA -- Pennsylvania is testing the sale of wine at supermarket kiosks and a state lawmaker is pushing legislation to auction off of 750 liquor licenses.

Under the plan unveiled by state Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, the wholesale and retail operation of the liquor control board would be privatized and auctioning of the liquor licenses to grocery stores would bring in an estimated $2 billion to state coffers, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Two Harrisburg-area supermarkets have begun selling wine at kiosks under a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board pilot program.

Under the trial process, customers insert their driver's license into a slot to show they're of drinking age while a board official at an office in Harrisburg verifies they're the same persons pictured on the licenses, the newspaper said.

Then the customers blow into a Breathalyzer to ensure their blood-alcohol level is below 0.02.

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Tomasello named NJ's top winery

• From the Press of Atlantic City (NJ):

HAMMONTON, NJ -- Tomasello Winery, the largest in New Jersey and the state’s Winery of the Year this year, has the kind of great entrepreneur story at its beginning often found in family-owned businesses.

Truck farmer Frank Tomasello got to know about the success of Renault Winery in Egg Harbor City when a neighbor married into that family, said Charlie Tomasello, president of the Hammonton winery.

Frank Tomasello’s homemade wine was pretty good, his grandson said, and he was already growing grapes and selling them to New York State wineries.

So as soon as Prohibition ended, Frank Tomasello got in his truck, drove through a storm storm and got in line to get one of the first winery licenses newly available -- No. 68.

Then all it took was decades of hard work, first by him and from the mid-1940s by his sons, Charles Tomasello Sr. and Jack Tomasello, to grow the business by expanding its wine selection and the outlets for it.

What it took to be named Winery of the Year for the first time this year by the Garden State Wine Growers Association was quality work and some fortunate timing, Charlie Tomasello said.

The association awards the honor based on the total score in its annual winemaking competition, so a winery can have medal-winning wines year after year but not enough to reach the top.

“When you have a really special year and have all of your wines firing at the same time, you end up with this combined score that wins you the award,” Tomasello said.

This year’s competition was very special for Tomasello Winery, which won three gold medals, five silver medals, two bronze and the Governor’s Cup for best dessert wine, its Vidal Ice Wine. The ice wine also won a gold medal, as did Tomasello’s 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and its raspberry wine.

[Go here for the remainder of the story.]

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