My Sangiovese Wins Big at the State Fair!

I've always struggled with the fine line a person walks when you earn a nice pat on the back for all your hard work and want to share your pride, and at the same time the need to avoid sounding like you're bragging.  If anyone knows me, though, I think they know that I'm not a particularly braggadocios person (or at least I hope they know!).  I'm a big believer in giving credit where credit is due, though, and I'd like to think that I know how to take a compliment.  Every once in a while, you get a pretty big compliment, and so here I go:  This year, at the California State Fair wine competition, a Sangiovese I made won Best Microwinery Red in the state, and 100 points!  I'm very excited about it and just refuse to hide it!  This was the 2016 Rodrigue Molyneaux Winery Livermore Valley Sangiovese, in case any of you want to go down to the tasting room and pick up a bottle (hint, hint).  This wine was just released a couple weeks ago and only 93 cases were made (with about 40 of those already doled out to wine club members).  Goin' fast!

What exactly does "microwinery" mean in this case?  The competition defined it as any winery that makes 2526 9L cases (the standard (12) 750ml bottle case) or less of total wine production in one season, and not more than 1052 9L cases of that for each entered wine.  The upside there is that microwineries only have to send half of the standard 6 bottles of each entry, do not have to meet a minimum production requirement to enter, do not have to have a minimum amount for sale to the public, and do not have to reserve the usual 10 cases of wine that the fair purchases and pours if your wine wins a gold medal or higher.  There's also the added strategy of only being judged among the other microwinery entries (of which there are only three categories-white, red, and all other-as opposed to the multitude of categories for the standard entry wines), and this year there were 85 wineries that entered the microwinery category.  I had never entered the microwinery category before, so I thought I would try it out and see how well it would turn out.  Besides, Rodrigue Molyneaux only makes about 1000 cases per year, so they're definitely a microwinery.  I never expected this wine to do so well, though!

Ok, yes, I did participate as a judge at this competition (I would be remiss if I didn't address that little detail), but I did not get to taste and judge any of the three wines I entered.  I know this because we get to keep our scoresheets, and the vintage, varietal, and blend-if available-is noted for all wines.  None of the wines I tasted matched in all those categories to the wines I entered.  In fact, I'm certain our panel did not taste any Livermore Valley entries at all.  After years of making wine somewhere, you just know the terroir.  I would also be remiss if I didn't give some credit to the man I replaced at RM Winery, Jeff Finch, Jr., who was largely responsible for (along with owner and former winemaker, Garry Rodrigue) the processing, fermentation, and barreling down of the 2016 vintage.  I hear he's doing well working at a custom crush facility in the Medford, OR area now, and I wish him all the best!  Great guy....

As far as the treatment I gave the wine, it was all in neutral oak when I took over as winemaker, so I added some high quality French oak alternatives (in the form of medium and medium+ toasted oak balls) directly to half of the lot during the last few months of aging.  I think that little touch of new French oak gave it just enough of a sensory and structure boost to put it over the top.  Generally, Italian varietals tend to be over-ripe in California, at least in my opinion and drinking experience, but in Livermore, the relatively cooler climate allows for balanced results.  This wine was no exception! In fact, I was afraid it would be too light-bodied and one-note, so I added just a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon at blending time.  At RM Winery, we only make 8-9 different varietals, so the choices are few when it comes time to blend, but I think it worked out just right in this case!  As much as fermentation is extremely important to good winemaking, blending is just as important.  It is a major part of the art in winemaking, and anyone who is skipping that part is leaving a lot on the table and doing that wine a disservice!  Please, people....spend adequate time on blending trials.  Ok, stepping off the soapbox now... To finish the wine, it was sterile-filtered before bottling.  Not my first choice for a red wine, but required by our bottler.  Sometimes you just can't control everything!

Just to speak on the judging process for the State Fair: wines are judged by panels of three professionals, usually a mix of winemakers, sommeliers & writers, and wine buyers, etc.  Judges are vetted for this competition; I had to take a UC Davis course on wine flaws/faults, and pass a sensory test at the end of that course scoring 85% or more to be considered to judge.  Most competitions will choose judges based on notoriety in the industry, which is fine, but there should always be some qualification to judge a competition.  Each judge on a panel tastes the same wines at the same time, flights are chosen at random and assigned to different panels, and each judge is to score each wine on its own merit, not compared to the other wines in the flight.  As stated earlier, judges are told varietal (or if it's a flight of blends, the blend composition), vintage, and alcohol & residual sugar level, if available.  Each wine is given a score of gold, silver, bronze, or no award (the wine has to be pretty flawed to get no award, but it does happen....way too much).  Once the flight has been scored by each judge in a panel, the fun begins.  This is where the clerk records each of our scores, and depending on the judge's personality, negotiations are made.  I tend to be pretty strong-willed if I think a wine really deserves a certain score, so I'm game to have a discussion, but I will bend if you can convince me otherwise.  Some judges are more hard-assed about their opinions, while others are more timid and can be swayed a little more easily.  It's rare that you get a hard-assed judge, because those people will be complained about by their panel-mates and not invited back.  However, some good-spirited, rousing discussion can be fun and make for a thorough judgment.  I happen to love it!  I also love when we're all in agreement from the start, though, because that means that the wine is truly deserving of its score.  

Most competitions use the same computerized scoring system, and it goes like this:  three golds equal a double gold; 2 golds and a silver equal a gold; 2 golds and 1 bronze equal a silver; 1 gold and 2 silvers equal a silver; 3 silvers equal a silver; 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze equal a silver, etc.  The wines also get a numerical score based on what each judge gave it, which is how my Sangiovese got a 100 point score.  Basically, each time the Sangiovese was scored, each judge gave it a gold.  That is the only way to get 100 points (yipee!!!).  If a wine gets a gold or higher in the first round of judging, it gets sent up to a semi-final round, and if it gets a good score there, gets sent up to the Best-of rounds (Best of Varietal, Best of Region, Best of California, Best of Show, etc.).  The Best-of rounds merely get a raise-of-hand score; basically, any judge can say "yes" or "no" to as many wines as they wish in a round.  The wine with the highest amount of "yeses" wins the round.  All Best of Varietal of Regions compete for Best of California, and all Best of Californias compete for Best of Show Red, Best of Show White, Best of Show Pink, Best of Show Sparkling, Best of Show Dessert, Best Micro Red, Best Micro White, Best Micro Other, and Best Value.  Every competition has their big winner categories, but this is the State Fair's.

The State Fair competition this year was great for Livermore Valley in general, as the Best of Show White went to Las Positas Vineyards for their 2018 Verdelho, and the Best of Show Red went to Concannon Winery for their 2016 Stampmaker's GSM blend (both received 99 points).  Another one of the wines I made for Rodrigue Molyneaux Winery, the 2016 Livermore Valley Cabernet Franc, also did well, receiving a double gold in this competition (this one hasn't been released for sale yet, though). 

For a complete searchable/sortable list of State Fair results click here, and for a complete list of my competition results, click here.

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