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.