Distilling 2,500 Bottles of Wine to 11

I was thrilled to have an opportunity to be part of the committee judging sparkling and dessert wines for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo International Wine Competition this past Saturday and Sunday, November 9 and 10.

I had signed up as an alternate and agreed to hang out and keep my days open in case I was needed, and it turned out I was when one of the other judges wasn’t able to come. Not only do I think sparkling wines and dessert wines are two of the most interesting categories to evaluate, but I got a chance to see how a big-time wine competition works.

The HLSR International Wine Competition, which celebrates its 10^th anniversary this year, is an enormous endeavor. More than 2,500 wines, including wines from 40 Texas wineries and 16 countries, are evaluated by 100 judges, many of whom are well-known wine pros flown in just for this event.

The judges are broken up into 20 committees of five people each. Each committee is responsible for judging a particular style of wine. In the back in a separate (and unseen) area some 250 volunteers deal with the massive coordination tasks involved to ensure that the process goes smoothly. Some 32,000 glasses are washed and dried by hand three times each over the course of the weekend-long competition. Wine is poured, and each glass is labeled with a identifying number.

Technically, there can be more than one winner (“double gold”) and one runner-up (gold) from each category. It was interesting that for each of the categories I judged, the double-gold selection was a decision arrived at quickly. It was satisfying to hear my fellow judges call out “gold,” “gold,” “gold,” around the table after my own score had already been written down. The runner-up took more evaluation and re-tasting amongst the top few every time. (A “double gold” is when each of the five judges gives the wine a gold rating.)

By Sunday morning, each wine had been tasted at least once already the day before. We were now tasting the first cut, if you will. It surprised me that it seemed a lot harder to select the winners from a field of 11 dessert wines than it did from about 31 sparkling wines. Part of the problem was that the sweet wines were all simply amazing. When the cart of samples pulled up, it was a sight to see, a rich tableau of heady gold and red wines.

The final committee selections get one last screening by a “superpanel” – a panel of top wine professionals from both Texas and around the world. Their task is to select the Grand Champion Best of Show and Champion Best of Show wines, a very challenging responsibility.

Since the competition on Sunday, I’ve been a bit like a kid shaking her wrapped present a few days before Christmas, waiting to see what it is that our committee actually selected. After what seemed like forever (it was actually only four days), the list of winners was released yesterday and you can enjoy perusing it right along with me.

Wine champions will be awarded buckles, chaps and saddles at the Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup and Best Bites Competition on Sunday, February 23, 2014. In addition to the champion wines, the Best Bites competition features offerings from select Houston-area restaurants and caterers vying to earn attendees’ votes in the Best Bites Competition. (This is one of the year’s most entertaining food events.)

All champion wines will be auctioned at the Rodeo Uncorked! Champion Wine Auction and Dinner on Sunday, March 2, 2014.

With no more ado, below please find the winners of the 2014 Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo International Wine Competition. Interested in trying some of these yourself? Better hurry to your favorite wine seller. Check Spec’s, Kroger and H-E-B for these prize winners. Plenty of other Houstonians will be seeking out these vinos, too.

• Grand Champion Best of Show Marchesi Antinori Guado al Tasso, Bolgheri DOC Superiore, 2009
• Reserve Grand Champion Best of Show Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards Estate Bottled Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, 2010
• Top Texas Wine Bending Branch Winery Estate Tannat, Texas Hill Country, 2011
• Top Country Wine (Chile) La Playa Vineyards Axel Cabernet Sauvignon, Colchagua Valley, 2011
• Top All-Around Winery Michael~David Winery
• Top Wine Company Trinchero Family Estates
• Top Sparkling Wine Sophora Sparkling Rosé, New Zealand, NV
• Top White Wine Sheldrake Point Riesling, Finger Lakes, 2011
• Top Red Wine Fess Parker Winery The Big Easy, Santa Barbara County, California, 2011
• Top Sweet Wine Sheldrake Point Riesling Ice Wine, Finger Lakes, 2010
• Top Value Wine Vigilance Red Blend “Cimarron,” Red Hills, Lake County, California, 2011