By now most of us in the wine business have seen the results of the California State Fair’s Commercial Wine Competition. Consumers should know that the Clarksburg Appellation consistently brings home top marks. I want to highlight some of the top winners this year and then share some observations.
I’ve shared the list of “Gold’s and Better” below but first some quick observations:
- Clarksburg earned 18 Gold’s and Better this year. This is compared to 15 earned last year.
- Of these 18 Gold’s here’s the break down by varietals:
- 4 Chenin Blancs
- 3 Sauvignon Blancs, 2 of which earned DOUBLE Gold.
- 2 Cabernet Francs
- 9 “other” Varietals.
- Of the 18 Golds, 12 are white varietals, 6 are reds varietals.
- Hats off to Heringer Estates and their winemaker Mike Heringer for representing Clarksburg so well! Mike had the most “Gold’s and Better” and if you add the Silver winners they had 12 wines with top medals.
- Clarksburg had two Double Golds this year, both of which are 2022 Sauvignon Blanc’s. One was Silt Wine Company, the other was Scribner Bend who also earned “Best of California” designation.
- This means, for two years in row, Clarksburg has earned Best of California designations. The 2021 Fellow Chenin Blanc earned Best of California last year.
To all my winery friends – Well done and we should be very proud of our work to represent the region so well through this competition. I know it costs plenty to enter our wines, but when we all do so, we share the workload of bringing attention to beautiful Clarksburg region.
To our friends and visitors – Our challenge to you is to come out and ENJOY CLARKSBURG! We have some award-winning wines for you to try. If you are un able to come to Clarksburg, (15 minutes from downtown Sacramento) find our wines online here at EnjoyClarksburg.com or directly from these wineries websites. There is nothing more “Farm to Fork” than buying wines from the farmers that grow the fruit.
Let’s take a look at the list of this year’s “Gold & Better” winners.
GOLD, 96 points – 2021 Chenin Blanc
GOLD, 96 Points – 2021 Chenin Blanc
GOLD, 96 Points – 2022 Moscato
GOLD, 96 Points – 2020 Sweet Viognier
GOLD, 95 Points – 2021 Cabernet Franc
GOLD, 95 Points – 2022 Chardonnay
GOLD, 95 Points – 2018 Insieme Red Blend
GOLD, 95 Points – 2018 Malbec
GOLD, 95 Points – 2021 Sauvignon Blanc
GOLD, 95 Points – 2021 Viognier
GOLD, 95 Points – 2021 Cabernet Franc
GOLD, 94 Points – 2021 Rendez-Rouge Red Blend
DOUBLE GOLD, 99 Points – 2022 Sauvignon Blanc
DOUBLE GOLD, 98 Points – 2022 Sauvignon Blanc*
GOLD, 96 Points – Sparkling Chenin Blanc
GOLD, 95 Points – 2022 Chenin Blanc
GOLD, 95 Points – 2020 Teroldego
GOLD, 94 Points – 2021 Pinot Gris
* State Fair incorrectly listed this as a 2021 vintage. It is a 2022 vintage, they are aware of the error and have not updated the results as of this posting date.