 The day's public tasting was the culmination of a few month's concentrated efforts. During the summer, wineries in and outside Lake County were invited to submit their Lake County wines. The criteria for taking part in the competition was simple: A wine had to be produced in Lake County and/or from Lake County grapes. In August, a panel of 10 prestigious wine judges gathered at Langtry Estate and Vineyards to narrow down the number of competing wines from the 168 submitted. A total of 38 wines in 14 categories were nominated to be part of the People's side of the competition.
Saturday's event was scheduled at 11 am to 4 pm, and many guests stayed for several hours, making new friends and connecting with old ones. It didn't seem to bother anybody that the lawn furniture was simple; hay bales were used for seating, while old wine barrels made it out as tables.
The day's tasting concluded with a sweet rain of awards. Ribbons were given to winners and runners-up in each of the varietal categories, and the different AVAs within Lake County had their special awards. Winners were found for "Best Red Wine of Lake County" and "Best White Wine of Lake County". A special award was given to the "Winery of the Year", not only recognizing quality but also taking into account the number and variety of wines submitted.
It added to the fun and suspense that the event was organized as a "double-blind" tasting. All bottles were uncorked in the tasting room by a few trusted volunteers and brought out one at a time, disguised in foil or black paperbags. The plain label revealed the wine variety but named the brand only as "x", "y", or "z". No bribe could bring the volunteers to leak which wine was represented by letters - even the servers were not allowed to peak at the bottle under the disguise. Using a deck of cards, the voting was set up to be almost fool-proof, and participants were instructed at the first table, "First take out your ACE card. Then taste the wines and put the card into the ballot box by the wine you like best." No expertise needed.
When Matt after the conclusion of the tasting revealed not only the winners but also the identity of of the disguised wines, the tasting participants were all ears. Comments flew through the air, "Yeah, my favorite wine won the award", and "That's weird, I voted for several wines from wineries I usually don't appreciate. It's all different when you cannot see the label!"
Many people had a fun day. Many wineries were awarded for their wines. But at the end of the day, Lake County was the grand winner. A successful event like this will help spread the word that Lake County is "growing up" and filling-in the spot on the wine country map.
We were honored to have this first-ever event happen at the place we call home. We are grateful to the sponsors who believed in the idea. And we are happy that so many people took the time to drive off the beaten road to have a good time.
The final results will be posted at the website of Lake County Winery Association
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