Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Takes Top Prize  November 18, 2025 — Winners have been announced in the 2025 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir took the top prize. It was also awarded Best of Show Red Wine and Best of Monterey County AVA. Coming in at 98 points, judges praised the wine as “warm and spicy” with “fig and nutmeg.” Other descriptors included “meaty,” “prosciutto,” and “dried rose petal.”  With entries from across the globe, the Harvest Challenge bases judging on a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions and grapes that combine to give personality to the wine.  In other competitions, this terroir is ignored. At the Harvest Challen

With the U.S. wine industry under pressure from declining sales, shifting consumer trends, and economic headwinds, Sonoma County’s vintners and grape growers are coming together in an unprecedented way to confront these challenges – and chart a positive path forward for the local industry. A steering committee of regional leaders has been formed to explore establishing the Sonoma County Wine Improvement District (WID) to provide stable, strategic funding for the long-term strength and sustainability of Sonoma County’s wine and agricultural economy.  The stakes are high. The marketplace is changing rapidly and maintaining the status quo is not an option. The wine industry is facing challenges like never before which must be addressed to reverse the decline and grow the overall wine category.  This effort is significant and grounded in a fundamental truth: grape growers and vintners are inextricably connected, and the success of one depends on the strength o

Two K Farms Cidery and Winery 2022 Bubbly Riesling Takes Top Honors November 15, 2024 — Winners have been announced in the 2024 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging,Two K Farms Cidery and Winery 2022 Bubbly Riesling took the top prize. It was also awarded Best of Show Sparkling Wine. Coming in at 97 points, judges praised the wine for its “Mouth watering citrus and honeysuckle”; “Lingering tropical finish”; and “Perfect bubbles.” They also called it “Well balanced.” With a record number of entries from across the globe, the Harvest Challenge bases judging on a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions and grapes that combine to give personality to the wine. In other competitions, terroir is ignored. At the Harvest Challenge, judges taste wines alongside other wines of the same appellation. W

Wente Vineyards Unveils Mount Diablo Highlands Red Blend

Fresh off its 140th Anniversary Year, Wente Vineyards Debuts a New Addition to its Core Portfolio for the First Time in a Decade and Introduces New Portfolio Tier Names LIVERMORE VALLEY, […]

Lula Cellars 2020 Rescue Block Pinot Noir Takes Top Honors November 17, 2023 — Winners have been announced in the 2023 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Lula Cellars 2020 Rescue Block Pinot Noir took the top prize. It was also awarded Best Red Wine and Best of Anderson Valley AVA (Mendocino County, Calif.). Coming in at 98 points, judges praised the wine as “rich, ripe” and for its “Bing cherry,” and “hint of orange peel.”  Lula Cellars is a boutique winery located in California’s Anderson Valley. Its focus is on world-class Pinot Noirs both from its estate and across Anderson Valley, as well as other single-vineyard offerings from the greater Mendocino County. When preparing to plant their own vines, Lula owners discovered some-1,000 old vines “literally lying down, as if waiting to be rescued.” Lots of TLC later, these mystery Pinot Noir grapes have thrived. There’s no in

September 21, 2023 — The 2023 International Eastern Wine Competition and West Coast Wine Competition match-up has announced Eberle Winery’s 2021 Cotes-du-Robles Rouge, a Rhone-style blend, as the Best of the Best…of the Best. A blend of 54% Grenache; 38% Mourvedre and 8% Syrah, Eberle’s red blend wowed judges, who described the wine as “Very well balanced,” “Black currant,” “Shows Grenache really nicely,” with a “really nice mouthfeel.” Located in California’s Paso Robles AVA, Eberle Winery (www.eberlewinery.com) was established in 1979 and now produces up to 15 wines annually. In addition to this year’s top winner, five other Eberle entries earned gold awards or better. This two-pronged East vs. West contest first chooses winners in the separate International Eastern Wine Competition and West Coast Wine Competition (see parameters below), before the top wines from each are pitted against each other in

The 2022 crush came to an end in October following a challenging growing season that saw drought, hailstorms, frost, unseasonably cool, humid or cloudy conditions, heatwaves and rainfall – often in quick succession. In general, it appears the three to four days of rain received in mid-September helped size-up some of the later-season red grapes in some areas, Cabernet being a particular beneficiary. But behind our headline crop estimate – a tentative one of 3.5-3.6 million tons – lurks a high level of output variance between even neighbouring vineyards.  Consequently, generalizing is difficult and this crop assessment – our last before the CDFA’s preliminary grape crush report in February – is anecdotal. It appears that in the Interior, and in Lake and Mendocino counties, tonnages may have come in closer to the average than in Napa, Sonoma and the Central Coast which were harder hit by frost, potentially preventing the state-wide tonnage figure