The second annual Mid-American Wine Competition was held July 11-13 on the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) Ankeny, Iowa Campus. The competition was open to commercial wineries from 14 Midwestern states. Over 640 wines were entered by 112 different wineries.
Professional wine judges from throughout the United States awarded 67 gold medals, 143 silver medals, and 186 bronze medals. Iowa wineries receiving sweepstakes nomination (sweepstakes represent the best of the gold medal wines) were Breezy Hills Vineyard, Park Farm Winery, Snus Hill Winery and Tassel Ridge Winery. In the sweepstakes round, Snus Hill Winery received the Dick Peterson Trophy for the ‘best white wine’ of the competition for their Edelweiss.
“The quality of the wines from the Midwest was very impressive,” said lead judge Doug Frost of Kansas City. “It conclusively demonstrated that the Midwest is making top notch wines.”
The judges were selected by Frost, who is one of only three persons in the world to earn both the coveted Master of Wine degree and the Master Sommelier title. The judging panel included a mix of seasoned professionals and a select group of local wine aficionados who passed a strenuous Judges Qualifying Exam. The judges included Richard Peterson, famed California wine maker who was born and raised in Iowa and made his first wine on a farm less than ten miles from the competition’s site; Daryl Groom, winemaker from Geyser Peak Winery; Wayne Belding, Master Sommelier from Colorado; Christopher Cook, director of the Michigan State Fair wine competition; Ron Edwards, Master Sommelier from Michigan; Dr. Murli Dharmadhikari, Iowa State Extension Enologist.
“The local volunteers who made this competition possible were some of the finest, hard-working people I have ever met,” said Director of the Competition Bob Foster, who has been running wine competitions for over 25 years. “They were superb and made the competition possible. They were flawless.”
A full copy of the results may be found at: http://www.dmacc.edu/ici/winecompetition.asp