Dan Berger is in the studio today with Sonoma County Harvest Fair Winners on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon. Dan Berger had decades of experience as a wine judge and he was a judge in this year’s Sonoma County Harvest Fair competition. He describes the new organization this year, where the judges only had 25 or 30 of one type of wine, instead of 55 or 60 of the same type. Dan likes this because the judges can get tired on too much of the same varietal. So, with a limited exposure to a single type of wine, the palette has a chance to regenerate. Also, the judging of each type is more spread out across all the judges.

What is the difference between a Gold Medal and a Sweepstakes? asks Steve. The Sweepstakes is a second round, more like a final round taste-off, where different varietals are against each other. This can be more difficult to understand. Dan says take it with a grain of salt. Gold Medal is good enough as a winning designation.

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The 2023 Hanna Sauvignon Blanc is the Sweepstakes winner. Jeff Hinchliffe made it at Hanna. It is from Russian River Valley. There is not a lot of Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc available because Jeff has been contracting for all the best fruit. Not only does it smell and taste right for the variety. Instead of favoring the strong herbaceous components, he favors the tropical fruit. It is rich with a great aftertaste. It sells for about $20 but Bottle Barn has it for $13.99. Bottle Barn has all he award-winning wines in the store, with the awards listed on the wine display.

Next is a 2022 Shone Farm wine, made by the students at SRJC. It is 13.9% ABV, so lower than average. It has fruit and spice flavors. The vineyard has been in the ground for 35 years. It’s a wine of personality, it is balanced with structure and good acidity.

It is remarkable that the students at SRJC have won a Gold Medal for their wine, in competition with all the other great winemakers in Sonoma County.