El Dorado and Amador County wines shine at inaugural Foothill Wine Festival competition

The first-ever Foothill Wine Festival Competition was held in Folsom on May 15. It was open to all wines bearing labels from Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, and Tuolumne counties.

The inaugural competition crowned Skinner Grenache Blanc from El Dorado County as the best white with 100 points; Amador Cellars Estate Tempranillo was voted the best red; Gwinlan Estate from Fairplay was crowned the best sparkling wine with their 2018 Estate Brut, earning 98 points; and best dessert wine honors went to the diVittorio Merlot Port from El Dorado County.

The competition was sponsored by the Greater Folsom Partnership, which will host a consumer event to exclusively celebrate the wines of the Sierra Foothills on November 20, at the Palladio event center in Folsom. Tickets are available HERE.

Judges included media, sommeliers, and wine buyers from throughout California and Nevada.

Of the 397 wines judged, 23 were awarded Double Gold, meaning all judges on the
three-person panel were in accord that the wine deserved a Gold medal. Scores of
95 points and higher were awarded to those wines. In addition, 44 wines scored
Gold medals, with 190 of them garnering Silver medals.

Wineries scoring multiple Double Golds included Young’s Vineyard, Jeff Runquist,
Skinner and Element 79. Jeff Runquist garnered the most Double Golds with three.

The Double Gold winning Reds that vied for Best Red of Show were:
Amador Cellars 2019 Amador County Tempranillo
Young's Vineyard 2019 Amador County Syrah/ Shiraz
Young's Vineyard 2019 Amador County Zinfandel
Skinner Vineyards & Winery 2019 El Dorado Mourvedre/ Mataro
Jeff Runquist 2019 Amador County Esola Vineyard Zinfandel
Starfield Vineyards 2018 El Dorado Bronson Brothers Red Rhone-based Blend
Cooper Vineyards LLC 2018 Amador County Syrah/ Shiraz
Jeff Runquist 2019 Amador County Barbera
diVittorio 2005 El Dorado County Merlot Port
Toogood NV Sierra Foothills Muscat Portstyle Wine
Lewis Grace 2018 El Dorado Petite Sirah
Jeff Runquist 2019 Amador County Barbera
Wine Tree Farm 2016 Amador County Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre Blend
Ironstone Vineyards Sierra Foothills 2017 Estate Meritage Reserve
Twisted Oak 2016 Calaveras County Dalton Vineyard “River of Skulls” Mourvedre
Element 79 Vineyards El Dorado; Fair Play 2017 24 Karat Red Blend
Noceto Shenandoah Valley (Amador) 2018 “Hillside” Sangiovese
Fenton Herriott Vineyards 2018 El Dorado Zinfandel
Lava Cap 2018 El Dorado; Sierra Foothills Cabernet Sauvignon
Wise Villa Winery Sierra Foothills 2018 Touriga Nacional (Other Red Varietals)

Competition Coordinator Coleen Schwietert noted, “Such a broad selection of
Double Gold winning wines from Barbera to Mourvedre clearly demonstrates that
the Foothills is so much more than Zinfandel! Congratulations to all the wineries
who entered and shared their amazing wines with us and the team of judges from all
over California and beyond.”

Mike Owen, President & CEO of Crystal Basin Cellars, developed and organized the
Foothills Wine Competition in conjunction with Joe Gagliardi, CEO of the Greater
Folsom Partnership.

“It was amazing to put together all of these wines from these great producers with
all of the challenges we faced in getting this first-year effort off the ground. We are very thankful for the support, and proud of the excellent wines our judges reviewed during the competition. It will be great to see these wines introduced to customers during the Foothill Wine Festival public event on November 20th at the Palladio in Folsom,” said Owen.

A special thanks went to Rich Cook, Chief Judge at the Monterey International Wine
Competition, Director of the San Diego County Fair Wine Competitions and Director
of Robert Whitley's Challenge Wine Competitions, for providing the glassware for
this competition.