North Coast Wine Challenge adds barrel category for 'wine of the future'

Daryl Groom is a firebrand.

The chief wine judge coordinating the 7th annual North Coast Wine Challenge is determined to make the competition a standout in America by importing a tasting that’s become a phenomenon in Australia.

This year, the competition on April 9 and 10 will include a barrel tasting to recognize the “Wine of the Future,” a first in American competitions, said Groom, a native of Australia.

“It’s revolutionary. It’s my hope that this part of the competition gets everyone really excited,” he said. “I see it as great for winemakers who do well with respect to presales and kudos. I also see it as rewarding for passionate wine consumers who love to show their friends new great wines and discoveries. They love to get the best before it sells out.”

The barrel tasting is similar to the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy awarded annually at the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards. The winner is the producer of the best 1- or 2-year-old, dry red wine still in barrel.

“In Australia, every winemaker wants to win it,” Groom said. “Consumers eagerly await when the wine is finally released, and it’s always a sellout when it is. I would love to create this buzz with the North Coast Wine Challenge.”

The contest evaluates wines from the North Coast appellations of Sonoma County, Napa County, Mendocino County, Lake County, Marin County and portions of Solano County.

The winning commercial wines will be gleaned from 1,000-plus entries during the competition held at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Saralee & Richard’s Barn.

The barrel samples may be judged at a later date, depending on the number of entries, Groom said. The contest is accepting barrel sample entries at ?pdncwc.com.

Consumers will get a chance to taste the “Wine of the Future,” as well as the competition’s gold medal winners, at the North Coast Wine & Food Festival on June 8. The event, from 1 to 4 p.m., will be at SOMO Village in Rohnert Park. (northcoastwineandfood.com).

“I’m sure the barrel tasting part of the competition will be a work in progress and will evolve over the years,” Groom said. “This year is really setting the foundation for getting judges, wineries and consumers used to the concept.”

The barrel samples, Groom explained, will be evaluated only by judges who are winemakers because they have the most experience with evolving wines.

For the rest of the competition, the judging panels also include sommeliers and wine buyers or members of the media.

“Sometimes I liken wines in the barrel to bringing up children,” Groom said. “There are good days and eras, and some not so good or a little more challenging.

“My experience with Australia’s most iconic wine - Penfolds Grange - is a good example,” he added. “If I gave it blind to 100 consumers as a 1-year old wine in barrel, they would probably say ‘Yuck. That’s undrinkable.’ But four years later in the bottle, it sells for close to $1,000, and there’s never enough of it.”

Mick Schroeter will be tapped as one of the winemakers to judge the barrel samples. The winemaking director of Windsor’s Sonoma-Cutrer said he’s up to the challenge because of his day-to-day winemaking duties.

“The skill of evaluating barrel samples is really a requirement of the job,” Schroeter said. “At Sonoma-Cutrer, we taste every single lot or batch of wine (usually in excess of 250) every month until blending in April or August.

“It’s one of the most rewarding parts of the job - to witness and guide the wines through their development.”

A native Australian, Schroeter is well aware of the popularity of the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy, even though its significance may be lost on most Americans.

For the uninitiated, Watson was the owner of the iconic Jimmy Watson’s Wine Bar, and he passed away in 1962. About a decade later Wolf Blass, a German immigrant and vintner, made the trophy a sensation.

“Wolf Blass’ winery was still in its fledgling stages, and he was a great self-promoter,” Schroeter said. “After winning the trophy three consecutive years - 1974 through 1976 - he made it into the most sought-after trophy. A winning wine is pretty much sold out on release.”

Groom expects the winner of the barrel tasting in the North Coast Wine Challenge to also be a sellout sensation, garnering as much success as its Aussie counterpart.

Aside from the new barrel tasting category, the format of the contest will remain the same.

The judges will be evaluating 30-plus varietals, predominantly from vintages that range from 2015 to 2018. They will endure seven hours of tasting on April 9 and two hours on April 10 for the final, sweepstakes round.

Judging a flight of wine typically takes about 20 to 25 minutes, and to cleanse their palates, panelists will snack on roast beef, Graber olives, bread, water and sparkling water.

As for scoring, the panelists will evaluate wines in the preliminary round as gold, silver, bronze or no award. Ultimately, only gold medal wines are awarded.

Gold medal wines are scored between 90 to 100 points and will compete for Best of Class. In the final sweepstakes round, the Best of Class finalists have a shot at winning “Best of Show” for red, white, sparkling, late harvest and rosé.

Best of County awards are given to the top wine from each county, provided they score 90 points or above.

The finale, of course, is when the “Best of Show” wines compete for the highest title, “Best of the Best.” Last year, top honors went to Kokomo’s 2018 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir at $44.

This year, the “Best of the Best” will share the spotlight with the “Wine of the Future,” which Groom believes will help raise the profile of the contest.

“The barrel tasting will continue to set this competition apart from other wine competitions,” he said. “And we truly want to make this the best wine competition in the USA.”

Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.