I attended, as an observer, the much advertised wine competition between Arizona wines and domestic and international wines.  The concept, launched by Pavle Milec of FnB restaurant in Scottsdale (www.fnbrestaurant.com) was an effort to determine how Arizona whites and reds would fare against like contenders.  Pavle has shown himself to somewhat of a maverick (no comparison intended to John McCain), establishing a restaurant serving only Arizona wines and locally grown and often organic foods.  His dishes are delicious and the pairings, right on the money.

Pavle requested top reds and whites from statewide vintners.  From there, a neutral panel tasted and evaluated them and from the group, chose those that they believed represented the best of each.  In the end, five whites and five reds were paired against chosen domestic and international varietals that best seemed to be worthy and fair contenders.  For example, a locally produced Tempranillo might be paired with its Spanish varietal.  Or a locally blended white might have been paired against a Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio.  There were some worthy domestic and international contenders in the group.  Lynch Bages ’05 was a representative red Bordeaux, E. Guigal represented the red Cotes du Rhone ’06, Condado de Haza was a well known Spanish entry, Mollydooker The Boxer ’08 showed its powerful Aussie 100 % Shiraz and Ruffino Chianti Classico made an appearance.   Cakebread Chardonnay, a Turley white and the Caymus Conundrum enter the competition as whites.

The judging panelists represented a wide range of professionals.  Gary Vaynerchuk, host of the Wine Library, Tadeo Borchardt, winemaker from Neyers Vineyards in Napa Valley and Anne Rosenzweig, former chef of 21 Club, the Lobster Club and Arcadia in New York, represented out of region panelists.  Closer to home were Laura Williamson, Master Sommelier of Tucson, Mark Tarbell, owner of Tarbells (www.tarbells.com) and wine columnist of the Arizona Republic, Chris Bianco, chef-owner of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix (www.pizzeriabianco.com), and Payton Curry, chef of Caffe Boa/Caffe Boa Bistro.

The judging scale used was the Sommelier’s Journal Scoring Format, using a scale of 1-20 with 1 representing a wine with essentially “no redeeming qualities” and 20, the best of everything.  Each judge had a sheet for scribble notes.  After nearly an hour of sniffing, tasting, swishing and spitting twenty wines, it was time to send the results to an outside source in Denver that utilizes a statistical program based upon medians.  Thirty minutes later, we had the results and they were, to say the least, very encouraging for the Arizona wine industry.

The number one rated white wine was produced by the senior member of the Arizona wine industry, Kent Callaghan, the Callaghan Lisa’s Cochise County White, 2008.  You can learn more about the upcoming 2009 Callaghan wines by clicking here and view his video here.  And for more details about his 2009 growing season, you can access our series with Kent in the Video archives……Here’s a sample for you.  The wine shows its juicy and ripe profile with Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Malsavia and Riesling.  A few notches down was the Caduceus Dos Ladrones Cochise County, 2008, a lovely blend of Malsavia Bianca and Chardonnay.  On the red side, it was the Caduceus Cabernet Sauvignon Yavapai County Merkin Vineyards Nagual de Judith, 2008.  This is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and sports hearty red fruits of plum and red currant alongside hints of vanilla.  It’s a juicy version of the grape variety coupled with structure and balance.  The Keeling-Schaefer 3 Sisters Syrah and Arizona Stronghold Nachise, a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mouvedre and Petit Syrah, were in the hunt as well.

I have written often that I believe that the local wine industry is on the verge of a significant quality breakthrough.  With opinions voiced by both local and outside publications that our vintners are producing some very attractive wines, the results of the wine competition simply add to that observation.   It’s clear that local vintners are utilizing improved vineyard and winemaking strategies and techniques to improve the quality of their wines.  While there are the recognized leaders in our young industry,  it’s only a matter of time before they are joined by many others.  

Tags: Arizona wine, Caduceus, Fnb restaurant, Keeling-Schaefer, Pavle Milec