As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, the eighth annual Cascadia International Wine Competition was staged June 23-25, 2020 at the Red Lion Hotel Lewiston/Gateway to Hells Canyon in the historic Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticultural Area.

It was the second wine competition that Great Northwest Wine LLC conducted using social-distancing protocols to help keep the team backroom staff and judges safe.

For its first three years, the Cascadia was known as the Great Northwest Wine Competition. In 2016, we changed the name to differentiate it from our wine buyer-based Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition each October.

• See the 2020 competition results
• See the 2019 competition results
• See the 2018 competition results
• See the 2017 competition results
• See the 2016 competition results
• See the 2015 competition results
• See the 2014 competition results
• See the 2013 competition results

Format

• All wines are tasted blind by category.
• Please submit three bottles of each entry because this is a multi-day judging.

Agreement with Enofile Online for entry portal

Starting in 2019, we began working with Enofile Online, a wine competition management platform headquartered in Portland, Ore. As of January, there were nearly 11,000 wineries in North America using Enofile Online to enter wine competitions.

Here is the link to enter the 2020 Cascadia International Wine Competition. The fee is $60 per entry.

There are sub-categories to help vintners place their wines within the class that best suits them.

And at the request of a number of wineries, there is now a Canned Wine group that includes six categories, including wine coolers and wine spritzers. For a complete list of categories, please go to the bottom of this page.

Benefits of entering the Cascadia International Wine Competition

• Wines are judged by some of the top wine professionals throughout the country, including journalists, winemakers, retailers and educators.
• Gold medals are announced immediately via email to wineries and on Twitter.
• Results are posted as soon as the competition concludes.
• Results are sent to our newspaper partners for inclusion in print and online.
• Great Northwest Wine’s online audience (25,000 unique visitors per month and more than 3,000 email newsletter subscribers) receives results in a timely manner.
• We link to medal winners’ website at no additional cost (some competitions charge up to $55 for such links).
• Top winners appear in our weekly wine column, which is syndicated in more than 20 Northwest newspapers.
• All gold medal wines are eligible for consideration on The Seattle Times Top 50 Wines of the Year list.
• All gold medal wines are eligible for consideration on The Seattle Times “Case Studies” for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.
• Select gold medal winners are featured as a “Wine of the Week” in the Tri-City Herald newspaper and on Wine Press Northwest’s website during the course of several weeks after the competition.
• Our growing social media network receives alerts about competition medal winners.
• Gold medal winners are automatically eligible for Wine Press Northwest magazine’s year-end Platinum Judging.
• Gold medal winners are automatically eligible for consideration in Great Northwest Wine’s Top 100 Wines of the Year list.

Dates

• The judging began Tuesday, June 23 and ended Wednesday, June 24 at the Red Lion Hotel in Lewiston, Idaho.
• While the competition was open to wineries in North America, any wine entered must be produced using fruit from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho or Montana.
• For inquiries beyond the U.S., please contact Eric Degerman at eric@GreatNorthwestWine.com for instructions.

Competition director

• Eric Degerman — (509) 727-4317, eric@GreatNorthwestWine.com

Judging coordinator

• Mike Rader, First Vice President, Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Kennewick, Wash.

Associate judging coordinator

• Kim Wolfe, senior provider network executive, Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, based in Mountlake Terrace, Wash.

Chief judges

• • Richard Larsen, retired research winemaker, Washington State University.
  • Barb Robertson, Pacific Northwest account manager, Saxco International, Concord, Calif.; columnist, Foothills magazine, Wenatchee, Wash.
  • Ken Robertson, columnist, Wine Press Northwest magazine, Kennewick, Wash.

Judging panel

• • Kristine Bono, general manager, Tertulia Cellars, Walla Walla, Wash.
  • Deb J. Carter, executive director, Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center, Prosser, Wash.
  • Ilene Dudunake, owner, A New Vintage Wine Shop, Meridian, Idaho
  • Ariel Eberle, winemaker, Yamhill Valley Vineyards, McMinnville, Ore.
  • Glenn Grabiec, certified sommelier/general manager, Bartholomew Winery, Kennewick, Wash.
  • Jon Harding, assistant winemaker, WSET Level 3 Award recipient, Colter’s Creek Vineyard & Winery, Juliaetta, Idaho
  • Clint Hoiland, owner/operator, Twisted Vine Wine Tours, Lewison, Idaho
  • Melanie Krause, winemaker/co-owner, Cinder Wines, Garden City, Idaho
  • Sophia McDonald Bennett is a journalist based in Eugene, Ore., who contributes to SevenFifty Daily.
  • Philippe Michel, associate, Metis Northwest, Walla Walla, Wash.
  • Liz Moss-Woerman, director of hospitality and direct-to-consumer manager, Barnard Griffin Winery, Richland, Wash.
  • Tim Norris, wine buyer/manager, Reds Wine Bar, Kent, Wash.
  • Leslie Preston, winemaker/owner, Coiled Wines, Garden City, Idaho
  • Stephen Reustle, director of winemaking/co-owner, Reustle – Prayer Rock Vineyards, Roseburg, Ore.
  • Alexis Sells, winemaker, Fortuity Cellars, Wapato, Wash.
  • Coco Umiker, winemaker/co-owner, Clearwater Canyon Cellars, Lewiston, Idaho
  • Gordy Venneri, co-founder, Walla Walla Vintners, Walla Walla, Wash.
  • Kent Waliser, director of vineyard operations, Sagemoor Farms, Pasco, Wash.
  • Sara Wicks, owner, Vin Wine Bar and Cellar, Moscow, Idaho
  • Sara Wilson, certified sommelier/executive chef/general manager, Mystic Café, Lewiston, Idaho

Competition photography

• Richard Duval Images, Woodinville, Wash.

Categories

Canned wines

• Red
• Rosé
• Sparkling/carbonated
• White
• Wine coolers
• Wine spritzers

Non-grape or flavored wines

• Mead
• Fruit/nongrape
• Hybrid

Red wines

• Pinot Noir
• Gamay
• Zinfandel
• Primitivo
• Sangiovese
• Barbera
• Dolcetto
• Nebbiolo
• Anglianico
• Montepulciano
• Carignane
• Syrah
• Petite Sirah
• Mondeuse
• Cinsaut
• Mourvèdre
• Grenache
• Merlot
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Cabernet Franc
• Malbec
• Petit Verdot
• Tannat
• Touriga Naçional
• Carménère
• Tinta Cáo
• Tempranillo
• Souzáo
• Maréchal Foch
• Red native/other hybrid varieties
• Lemberger/Blaufränkisch
• Blauer Zweigelt
• Red blend (specify dominant grape)
• Red blend led by Cabernet Sauvignon
• Red blend led by Merlot
• Red blend led by Syrah
• Red blend led by Zinfandel
• Red blend led by Primitivo
• Red blend led by Cabernet Franc
• Red blend led by Petit Verdot
• Red blend led by Malbec
• Red blend led by Petite Sirah
• Red blend led by Grenache
• Red blend led by Cinsaut
• Red blend led by Mourvèdre
• Red blend GSM
• Red blend led by Tempranillo
• Red blend led by Sangiovese
• Red blend led by Pinot Noir
• Red blend led by Barbera
• Red blend led by native/hybrid
• Red blend led by Lemberger

Rosé

• Rosé (Pinot Gris)
• Rosé (Sangiovese)
• Rosé (Nebbiolo)
• Rosé (Pinot Noir)
• Rosé (Gamay)
• Rosé (Tempranillo)
• Rosé (Cabernet Franc)
• Rosé (Merlot)
• Rosé (Cabernet Sauvignon)
• Rosé (Cinsaut)
• Rosé (Grenache)
• Rosé (Syrah)
• Rosé (Mourvèdre)
• Rosé (GSM)
• Rosé (blend other than GSM)

Sparkling wines

• Blanc de blanc
• Blanc de noir
• Brut
• Sparkling rosé
• Sparkling non-grape
• Sparkling Gamay
• Sparkling Syrah
• Sparkling Riesling
• Sparkling Gewürztraminer
• Sparkling Muscat
• Sparkling other
• Semi-sparkling

White dessert/Late harvest

• Ice wine/icewine
• Fortified, Port-style
• Fortified using non-Port varieties

White wine

• Sauvignon Blanc
• Chardonnay, oaked
• Chardonnay, unoaked
• White Pinot Noir
• White blend (led by Albariño)
• White blend (led by Auxerrois)
• White blend (led by Chenin Blanc)
• White blend (led by Chardonnay)
• White blend (led by Pinot Gris)
• White blend (led by Pinot Blanc)
• White blend (led by Gewürztraminer)
• White blend (led by Riesling)
• White blend (led by Sauvignon Blanc)
• White blend (led by Sèmillon)
• White blend (led by Muscat)
• White blend (led by Marsanne)
• White blend (led by Roussanne)
• White blend (led by Viognier)
• White Blends (specify dominant grape)
• Viognier
• Pinot Gris
• Sèmillon
• Muscat
• Albariño
• Chenin Blanc
• Grenache Blanc
• Vermentino
• Pinot Blanc
• Roussanne
• Marsanne
• Grüner Veltliner
• Verdelho
• Malvasia Bianca
• Gewürztraminer
• Riesling, dry
• Riesling, off-dry
• Riesling, sweet
• White variety, Other (Specify)
• Ehrenfelser
• Sieggerebe
• Bacchus
• Ortega
• Auxerrois
• Müller-Thurgau
• Madeliene Angevine
• Melon de Bourgogne/Muscadet
• Trebbiano