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Walla Walla Vintners tops 2014 Walla Walla Valley Wine Competition

By on June 23, 2014
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Walla Walla Community College’s Center for Enology & Viticulture serves as the home of the annual Walla Walla Valley Wine Competition. (Photo courtesy of Walla Walla Community College)

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – A Cabernet Franc from one of the Walla Walla Valley’s oldest producers earned best-in-show honors at the second annual Walla Walla Valley Wine Competition.

Walla Walla Vintners‘ 2012 Cabernet Franc earned top honors, along with a unanimous double gold medal from the judges.

The competition was conducted under blind conditions at Walla Walla Community College’s Center for Enology & Viticulture by Great Northwest Wine. The competition helps raise money for scholarships in the college’s vaunted winemaking program.

Walla Walla Vintners was one of the first 10 wineries in the Walla Walla Valley, launched in 1995 by Myles Anderson and Gordy Venneri. Their winemaker is William vonMetzger.

Winning best white wine was the Poets Leap 2013 Riesling, a wine that is part of Long Shadows Vintners and is crafted by Armin Diel of Germany and Gilles Nicault, Long Shadows’ resident winemaker.

Winning unanimous double golds were J&J Vintners for its 2012 Les Collines Vineyard Syrah and Zerba Cellars for its 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon. Zerba also won a gold medal for its 2011 Estate Cockburn Vineyard Mourvèdre.

Woodward Canyon Winery in Lowden won three gold medals, and Eleganté Cellars at the Walla Walla airport earned two gold medals.

The judges were Ken Robertson, Hank Sauer, Mike Rader and Paul Sinclair. All are longtime members of Great Northwest Wine’s tasting panel and have judged wine professionally throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Here are the complete results:

Double gold/best red/best in show

Walla Walla Vintners 2012 Cabernet Franc, Columbia Valley, $30

Gold/best white

Poet’s Leap 2013 Riesling, Columbia Valley, $20

Double gold

J&J Vintners 2012 Les Collines Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley

Zerba Cellars 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, $30

Gold

Balboa Winery 2009 Eidolon, Walla Walla Valley, $75

Bunchgrass Cellars 2011 Founder’s Blend, Walla Walla Valley, $35

Dumas Station Wines 2012 Merlot, Walla Walla Valley, $32

Eleganté Cellars 2009 Sangiovese, Walla Walla Valley, $26

Eleganté Cellars 2008 Merlot, Walla Walla Valley, $28

Five Star Cellars 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, $36

Mannina Cellars 2012 Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, $32

Morrison Lane 2013 Viognier, Walla Walla Valley, $24

Trio Vintners 2011 Faraway Vineyard Grenache, Yakima Valley, $26

Woodward Canyon Winery 2013 Chardonnay, Washington, $44

Woodward Canyon Winery 2012 Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington, $59

Woodward Canyon Winery 2012 Estate Barbera, Walla Walla Valley, $29

Zerba Cellars 2011 Estate Cockburn Vineyard Mourvèdre, Walla Walla Valley, $38

Silver

Balboa Winery 2011 Mith, Walla Walla Valley, $45

Chester-Kidder 2010 Red Wine, Columbia Valley, $50

Eleganté Cellars 2009 Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, $28

Five Star Cellars 2010 Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, $34

Gifford Hirlinger 2013 Estate Pinot Gris, Walla Walla Valley, $19

Gifford Hirlinger 2009 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, $34

Gifford Hirlinger 2010 Estate Malbec, Walla Walla Valley, $36

Gifford Hirlinger 2010 Estate Merlot, Walla Walla Valley, $34

J&J Vintners 2012 Les Collines Vineyard Malbec, Walla Walla Valley

J&J Vintners 2012 Les Collines Vineyard 4 Boys Red Wine, Walla Walla Valley

L’Ecole No 41 2012 Estate Luminesce, Walla Walla Valley, $20

L’Ecole No 41 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, $40

L’Ecole No 41 2011 Estate Merlot, Walla Walla Valley, $35

L’Ecole No 41 2011 Estate Ferguson, Walla Walla Valley, $60

L’Ecole No 41 2011 Estate Seven Hills Vineyard Perigee, Walla Walla Valley, $50

L’Ecole No 41 2011 Estate Seven Hills Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, $35

Lagana Cellars 2013 Sagemoor VIneyards Riesling, Columbia Valley, $16

Lagana Cellars 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, Columbia Valley, $18

Mannina Cellars 2012 Cali, Walla Walla Valley, $18

Morrison Lane 2013 Nebbiolo Rosé, Walla Walla Valley, $20

Morrison Lane 2012 Cinsault, Walla Walla Valley, $36

Morrison Lane 2012 Dolcetto, Walla Walla Valley, $32

Nine Hats 2013 Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley, $12

Sequel 2011 Syrah, Columbia Valley, $50

Sinclair Estate Vineyards 2013 Yellow Bird Vineyard Rosé of Mourvedre, Walla Walla Valley, $28

SYZYGY 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $39

SYZYGY 2008 SAROS, Cabernet Sauvignon, $50

SYZYGY 2009 Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, $37

Three Rivers Winery 2013 Steel Chardonnay, Columbia Valley, $14

Three Rivers Winery 2013 Riesling, Columbia Valley, $15

Three Rivers Winery 2009 Champoux Vineyards Merlot, Horse Heaven Hills, $39

Trio Vintners 2011 Heart of the Hill Vineyard Carménère, Red Mountain, $28

Trio Vintners 2011 Faraway Vineyard Mourvèdre, Yakima Valley, $26

Trio Vintners 2011 Flash Point Reserve Sangiovese, Yakima Valley, $29

Trio Vintners 2011 Les Collines Vineyard Tempranillo, Walla Walla Valley, $26

Walla Walla Vintners 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, $38

Walla Walla Vintners 2011 Sagemoor Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, $44

Walla Walla Vintners 2012 Sangiovese, Columbia Valley, $25

Woodward Canyon Winery 2011 Estate Reserve, Walla Walla Valley, $79

Zerba Cellars 2011 Estate Cockburn Vineyard Grenache, Walla Walla Valley, $38

Bronze

Eleganté Cellars 2009 Malbec, Walla Walla Valley, $30

Sinclair Estate Vineyards 2013 White Wine, Walla Walla Valley, $28

Walla Walla Vintners 2012 Yellow Bird Vineyard Merlot, Walla Walla Valley, $38

Zerba Cellars 2012 Wild White, Columbia Valley, $18

About Andy Perdue

Andy Perdue is the editor and publisher of Great Northwest Wine. He is a third-generation journalist who has worked at newspapers since the mid-1980s and has been writing about wine since 1998. He co-founded Wine Press Northwest magazine with Eric Degerman and served as its editor-in-chief for 15 years. He is a frequent judge at international wine competitions. He is the author of "The Northwest Wine Guide: A Buyer's Handbook" (Sasquatch, 2003) and has contributed to four other books. He writes about wine for The Seattle Times. You can find him on Twitter and .