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Cascadia International Wine Competition

The ninth annual Cascadia International Wine Competition is scheduled for May 4-6, 2021 at the Courtyard Richland Columbia Point in Richland, Wash.

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.

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.

Cascadia International Wine Competition

Format

Agreement with Enofile Online for entry portal

Benefits of entering the Cascadia International Wine Competition

Dates

Competition director

Judging coordinator

Associate judging coordinator

Chief judges

Judging panel

Competition photography

Categories

Canned wines

Non-grape or flavored wines

Red wines

Rosé

Sparkling wines

White dessert/Late harvest

White wine

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