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2024 Award Winners and "Winemaker of the Year" Announced
(April 2024) - The 16th Annual Winemaker Challenge is in the books, with talented judges finding all kinds of great wine across a wide range of varieties, prices and regions. The top scoring 2019 Brick Barn Wine Estate "Fatalist" Cabernet Franc from Santa Ynez Valley took Domestic Wine of the Year honors with a 98 point score, making a solid argument for Cabernet Franc as a standalone offering worthy of attention. It's also worth mentioning that winemaker Jimmy Zanoli was once again in the running for the big prize with the 2020 Bella Luna Estate Riserva from Carly's Vineyard in Paso Robles, just missing out this year after taking top honors in the 2022 and 2023 competitions with the 2018 and 2019 vintages respectively. Import Wine of the Year went to the 2019 Chapillon "Siendra", an old-vine Garnacha-driven blend from Spain's Calatayud region that'll have you making travel plans in no time.  Our third annual Winemaker of the Year award goes to Brent Stone of King Estate in Oregon's Willamette Valley. While King Estate is best known for putting Pinot Gris on the domestic wine map, Brent does plenty more, working with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc just to name a few. King Estate was one of a dozen entrants that medaled one hundred percent of wines entered, and they ended up with the top "slugging percentage" of all entrants. To have your wines evidence top quality across the board in a blind judging by fellow winemakers is a true honor. We're proud to recognize Brent's talents with this award, which includes Chief Judge status at the 2025 Winemaker Challenge.
Thanks for visiting us here at WinemakerChallenge.com. I hope you'll take a few moments to peruse our results page, where you can view all of our medal winners, Director’s Awards, and reviews of Platinum Award winners. There are award-winning wines of all types and price ranges represented, and you’ll no doubt find some wines you have yet to discover as well as old favorites. Thanks to all of our participating wineries – we look forward to celebrating your achievements again in April 2025 at the 17th annual Winemaker Challenge. Cheers! Rich Cook, Competition Director |
