HUDSON-CHATHAM WINERY
BRINGS HOME TWO MEDALS
FROM 2011 GRAND HARVEST AWARDS

Hudson-Chatham Winery, 08 Empire Red Reserve, $21.95 Bronze
Hudson-Chatham Winery, 09 Baco Noir Reserve, Casscles Vineyard, $19.95 Bronze

2011 Grand Harvest Awards to place at Villa Chanticleer, Healdsburg,on March 1-2, 2011.
Established in 1990, it is the only wine-judging event in North America that is based on terroir - 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, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine.

In other competitions, this factor is ignored. At the Grand Harvest, judges taste wines with other wines of the same appellation. Thus, with cross-regional competition removed, the inherent quality of wines can be seen without the influences that sometimes eclipse even a wine of very high quality.

According to wine competition chairman, Bill Traverso, "There are two reasons why this judging is different from any other wine competition. 1) Wines are judged by region and 2) you'll now receive Judges' Notes that give you professional feedback on your wine."

A goal of Grand Harvest is to learn more about how terroir contributes qualities of excellence and distinctiveness to wines. Over the course of this event, judges have learned to recognize when terroir is - and is not - a factor of wine quality.

The competition included lots of big California, Washington, and Oregon competitors, as well as those form the Finger Lakes.

We are thrilled to be in their company. Congrats to our winemaker, Steve Casscles, to our manager Ralph Cooley, and everyone at Hudson-Chatham Winery.