IRVING, Texas — A worldly panel of judges starring Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers selected an Oregon Chardonnay from Gran Moraine — a Willamette Valley brand owned by Jackson Family Wines — as the Best White Varietal Wine and awarded three gold medals to Washington state’s DeLille Cellars during the 2023 TEXSOM International Wine Awards.
Gran Moraine winemaker Shane Moore grew up on a ranch in the Idaho Panhandle, got his first winery job at Coeur d’Alene Cellars and graduated from Washington State University’s viticulture and enology program in 2008, spending time with Merry Cellars in Pullman along the way. He began working for Jackson Family Wines in 2011 at La Crema. Two years later, the California giant moved him to McMinnville to help launch Zena Crown and take over newly acquired Gran Moraine.
Joining the Gran Moraine Chardonnay on the Judges’ Selection podium for wines at TEXSOM was the Santa Ema 2018 Amplus One Carménère ($25) from Chile, Champagne Palmer NV Blanc de Blancs ($85) from Champagne, Allegrini 2017 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico ($76) and T. Berkley Wines 2019 Late Harvest Chenin Blanc ($30) from Mendocino County in California.
Those headliners were among the 2,300 entries, which included spirits and sake from more than 30 countries. Evaluations were staged at The Irving Convention Center within the Las Colinas Urban Center. Basecamp for the judging panel is across the street at Texican Court.
There were 233 gold medals awarded, and 95 of those received a Platinum and a Judges’ Selection nomination. From there, they were subjected to head-to-head judging, and 19 were awarded a Judges’ Selection medal as the highest award of the competition.
Each of the four corners of the Pacific Northwest can boast of a TEXSOM Platinum. From Oregon, joining the Gran Moraine Chardonnay was the Bryn Mawr Vineyards 2018 Tempranillo, Quady North 2020 GSM, R. Stuart & Co. Winery 2022 Big Fire Pinot Gris and Sokol Blosser Winery 2021 Kalita Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir.
Washington included the DeLille Cellars 2021 Métier Cabernet Sauvignon, Charles Smith 2021 Kung Fu Girl Riesling and EFESTĒ 2020 Lil’ Mama Cabernet Sauvignon. British Columbia earned a Platinum with the Martin’s Lane 2022 Simes Vineyard Riesling.
Melanie Krause of Cinder Wines in Garden City, Idaho, used her 2022 Verdejo — grown along the Oregon side of the Snake River Valley at Emerald Slope Vineyard — to wow a pair of Masters of Wine during TEXSOM’s second day of judging.
The Pacific Northwest wine industry was represented on the judging panel by Bree Stock, Master of Wine/winemaker, Limited Addition Wines, Dundee, Ore.; Kerry Shiels, winemaker/grower, Côte Bonneville, Sunnyside, Wash., and Eric Degerman, journalist, Great Northwest Wine LLC, Richland, Wash.
Journalist with NW ties launched Dallas judging in ’85
TEXSOM began in 1985 as the Dallas Morning News National Wine Competition, launched for the newspaper by sommelier/journalist Rebecca Murphy. Three years prior, she started a wine consulting business — Vintage Productions — and that approach allowed the University of Texas grad to work out of both Dallas and Seattle.
By 2002, Murphy’s need to better orchestrate her Dallas competition from either office led to a collaboration with Portland-based software developer Will Goldring. They created Enofile Online. Since its launch in 2002, Enofile has grown into the dominant and most powerful wine competition management system in the U.S.
In 2005, two acclaimed sommeliers — Drew Hendricks and James Tidwell — created a trade-only craft beverage event called the Texas Sommelier Conference. Impressed by their vision and organizational skills, Murphy began transitioning the wine competition to the two somms in 2008. They announced a sale of the competition in 2014. (Murphy remains an active part of the wine industry, a contributor to WineReviewOnline.com and involved with TEXSOM, attending in 2023.)
Tidwell, a graduate from the Culinary Institute of America campus in Hyde Park, N.Y., earned a degree in international business from Louisiana State. He passed the final Master Sommelier exam in 2009. He’s also a regional chair for the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards in London.
In conjunction with the TEXSOM wine judging, there’s also the TEXSOM Retreat. That event spotlights Retreat Scholars, trade professionals chosen through an application process who receive a scholarship, additional education via seminars and tastings. This year, the TEXSOM Retreat gathered 28 scholars and 15 mentors from 16 states.
Those speakers/mentors included Rachel Adams, founder of ASSEMBLAGE Symposium, Newberg, Ore., and Sheri Morano, a Master of Wine based in North Carolina who occasionally judges in the Pacific Northwest.
The TEXSOM Conference, which includes the Grand Tasting and Awards Reception, is scheduled for Aug. 27-29.
2023 TEXSOM International Wine Awards
(Pacific Northwest results)
Best Varietal White Wine — Judges Selection
Gran Moraine Vineyard 2019 Chardonnay, Yamhill-Carlton, $50
Platinum medal
Bryn Mawr Vineyards 2018 Tempranillo, Eola-Amity Hills $50
Charles Smith Wines 2021 KungFu Girl Riesling, Columbia Valley $13
Cinder Wines 2022 Emerald Slope Vineyard Verdejo, Snake River Valley $29
DeLille Cellars 2021 Métier Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley $30
EFESTĒ 2020 Lil’ Mama Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Mountain $35
Martin’s Lane Winery 2022 Simes Vineyard Riesling, Okanagan Valley $50
Quady North 2020 GSM, Rogue Valley, $25
R. Stuart & Co. Winery 2022 Big Fire Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley $22
Sokol Blosser Winery 2021 Kalita Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton, $45
Gold medal
Bacus Vineyards 2021 Primeval Pinot Noir, Chehalem Mountains
Big Table Farm 2021 Chardonnay, Willamette Valley
Bryn Mawr Vineyards 2021 Chardonnay, Willamette Valley
Chehalem Wines 2021 Pinot Noir, Chehalem Mountains
Covington Cellars 2019 May’s Discovery Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Horse Heaven Hills
Cristom Vineyards 2021 Louise Vineyard Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills
Cristom Vineyards 2021 Mt. Jefferson Cuvée Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills
DeLille Cellars 2020 D2 Red Wine, Columbia Valley
DeLille Cellars 2019 Grand Ciel Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Mountain
Dixie and Bass 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
EFESTĒ 2020 Big Papa Cabernet Sauvignon, White Bluffs
Goose Ridge Estate Winery 2022 Revelation Rosé, Goose Gap
Hedges Family Estate 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Mountain
L’Ecole N° 41 2020 Pepper Bridge Vineyard Apogee Red Wine, Walla Walla Valley
Long Shadows Vintners 2021 Poet’s Leap Riesling, Columbia Valley
Luke Wines 2020 The Companion Red Blend, Columbia Valley
Lumos Wine Co. 2019 Temperance Hill Vineyard Swan Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills
Mark Ryan Winery 2020 The Dissident Red Wine, Columbia Valley
Mullan Road 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon, Royal Slope
Pacific Rim Winemakers, 2018 Thick Skinned Red Wine, Red Mountain
Planet Oregon 2021 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
ROCO Winery 2021 The Stalker Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
SakeOne NV Junmai Daiginjo Naginata, Oregon
Stoller Family Estate 2021 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Winderlea Vineyard and Winery 2019 Winderlea Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills
Silver medal
Amaterra 2019 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Amity Vineyards 2022 White Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Audeant Wines 2019 Luminous Hills Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Audeant Wines 2019 Nysa Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Audeant Wines 2019 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Bacus Vineyards 2021 Clarion Chardonnay, Chehalem Mountains
Balboa Winery 2017 Summit View Vineyard Carménère, Walla Walla Valley
Balboa Winery 2018 Waliser Vineyard Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley
Balboa Winery 2022 Sparkling Rosé, Columbia Valley
Be Human 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
Be Human 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé, Horse Heaven Hills
Benton-Lane 2021 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Big Table Farm 2021 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Board Track Racer 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
Brooks Winery 2019 Cahiers Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Brooks Winery 2019 Old Vine Pommard Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills
Brooks Winery 2021 Ara Riesling, Willamette Valley
CheckMate Artisanal Winery 2020 Fool’s Mate Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley
Chehalem Winery 2022 Pinot Noir Rosé, Willamette Valley
Covington Cellars 2018 Boushey Vineyard Ode Sangiovese Grosso, Yakima Valley
Cristom Vineyards 2021 Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills
David Paige Wines 2019 Chardonnay, Willamette Valley
David Paige Wines 2019 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
DeLille Cellars 2020 Chaleur Estate Red Wine, Yakima Valley
DeLille Cellars 2021 Chaleur Blanc White Wine, Columbia Valley
Dobbes Family Estate 2021 Grand Assemblage Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Dwell Wines 2020 Methode Champenoise, Applegate Valley
EFESTĒ 2022 Evergreen Vineyard Feral Sauvignon Blanc, Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley
Ermisch Cellars 2021 Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge
Hedges Family Estate 2021 CMS Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot-Syrah, Columbia Valley
Iris Vineyards 2021 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Iris Vineyards 2022 Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley
L’Ecole N° 41 2020 Merlot, Columbia Valley
Luke Wines 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Wahluke Slope
Lumos Wine Co. 2018 Temperance Hill Vineyard North Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills
Mark Ryan Winery 2020 Dead Horse Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Mountain
Mark Ryan Winery 2020 Long Haul, Columbia Valley
Mission Hill Family Estate 2021 Perpetua Chardonnay, Okanagan Valley
Monson Ranch Distillers NV Feather & Folly Gin, Washington
Montinore Estate 2019 Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Padigan Ranch 2019 Malbec, Rogue Valley
Padigan Ranch 2021 Chardonnay, Rogue Valley
Ponzi Vineyards 2019 Chardonnay, Laurelwood District
Ponzi Vineyards 2021 Pinot Noir, Laurelwood District
Portlandia Vintners 2020 Big Believer Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
Portlandia Vintners 2021 Pinot Noir, Oregon
Quady North 2019 Cabernet Franc, Applegate Valley
Reustle – Prayer Rock Vineyards 2021 Estate Selection Syrah, Umpqua Valley
Reustle – Prayer Rock Vineyards 2021 Winemaker’s Reserve Estate Pinot Noir Umpqua Valley
Roaming Dog 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
Roaming Dog 2020 Red Blend, Columbia Valley
Roaming Dog 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé, Columbia Valley
Rocky Pond Estate Winery 2020 Double D Vineyard 11 Dams, Columbia Valley
Rocky Pond Estate Winery 2021 Tumbled Granite White Wine, Columbia Valley
SakeOne NV g fifty Junmai Ginjo Genshu, Oregon
Signor Vineyards 2019 Grand PÃre, Rogue Valley
Soter Vineyards 2021 Estates Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Stoller Family Estate 2021 Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills
Stoller Family Estate 2022 Chardonnay, Dundee Hills
The Four Graces 2021 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Torii Mor 2021 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Two Vintners 2020 Boushey Vineyard The Waiting List Syrah, Yakima Valley
Two Vintners 2020 May’s Discovery Vineyard Some Days are Diamonds Syrah, Horse Heaven Hills
Two Vintners 2020 Syrah, Columbia Valley
Underground Wine Project 2022 And Why Am I Mr. Pink, Columbia Valley
Valdemar Estates 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley
Valdemar Estates 2021 Chardonnay, Columbia Valley
Willamette Valley Vineyards 2022 Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley
Winderlea Vineyard and Winery 2019 Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton
Woodward Canyon Winery 2020 Estate Vineyard Merlot, Walla Walla Valley
Woodward Canyon Winery 2020 Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington State
Woodward Canyon Winery 2020 Red Wine, Walla Walla Valley
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