And the Winner Is...

I’m still pinching myself.  For the first time in 36 years we have won a Sweepstakes Award at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair! On Saturday night, our 2007 Fumé Blanc was selected the “White Wine of the Year” out of 1051 entries. Talk about exciting…we still can’t believe it.

That’s the good news. Now here’s the bad: I missed the whole darn thing! Every year we submit wines for judging at the Harvest Fair. And for decades, we’ve attended the swanky awards night, donning our best duds, standing shoulder to shoulder, sipping wines and grazing hors d’oeuvres while we anxiously await the announcement of all the medal winners. I have honestly gone to this event so many times, I’ve lost count. (All I know is that some of the people aren’t aging as gracefully as their wines!)    

But this year it was a case of the kids come first. Our teenage daughter asked at the last minute if she could invite a few friends over, namely a boy. This was a parenting opportunity just too good to miss. So there we were chaperoning a bunch of pimply-faced teenagers, when we got the call. We’d won the Biggest Award in Sonoma County for our signature white wine-unbelievable! It’s a little bit like winning an Oscar right here in our own backyard. Judges come from all over the country to competitively taste the bounty of the county. And, while we’ve won scores of gold, silver and bronze medals over the years, we’ve never won the coveted Sweepstakes Award.

So if you haven’t tried our signature Fumé Blanc, this is the vintage to try. It’s absolutely delicious with zippy, zesty, invigorating citrus fruit flavors and aromas. And, at $14.50 a bottle, you needn’t feel guilty about splurging on a Sweepstakes Winner!