Consumer Wine Awards Go to Spectrum of Tastes, Prices -- Results Have "Something for Everyone" from Consumer Evaluators

    LODI, CA, April 03, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Winners in the Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi competition ranged from big Cabernets to delicate white wines "with the judges following their own palates," according to competition co-directors Aaron Kidder, Tim Hanni, MW, and G.M. "Pooch" Pucilowski. The program is presented by the Lodi Tokay Rotary Club and benefits their contributors to local and international charities.

"There is truly something for every wine lover at every variety, price and style," the directors said. Platinum winners (see list at www.consumerwineawards.com) include Lodi Klinker Brick Syrah, which also garnered the Vino Farms Trophy for best sustainably grown grapes); Cupcake Vineyards Red Velvet blend of Zinfandel and Merlot; Hagafen Napa Valley Riesling; Deliverance, a coffee-flavored Syrah-based fortified wine from Graveyard Vineyards in Paso Robles; and Fenestra Winery's "Conjugation", a classic Bordeaux blend from Livermore. That wine cost $40, in the high range, with a $3.99 red blend from Barokes Wines in southeast Australia at the "Best Buy" end.

The competition introduced the George M. Taber Awards, given to top-performing wines that retail for under $10.00: LuLu B. Muscat from Spain, flipflop Pinot Noir, Australian Barokes bubbly in a can, Backhouse un-oaked Chardonnay and Twisted Merlot. Taber, author of the new book A Toast to Bargain Wines, participated in the tasting and commented, "Finally, wines that people love and drink every day are being given a hearing."

The Awards dinner is scheduled for Friday, April 27 at Hutchins Street Square in Lodi. Taste from over 673 wines from eight states, Australia and Chile submitted for evaluation in the 2012 Consumer Wine Awards and enjoy a casual meal along with the Consumer Wine Evaluators, volunteers and CWAL team. For more information or tickets, contact [email protected] or (209) 642-2391; Jeremy Lenser [email protected]; or Jim Natsis [email protected].

This is the third year for the Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi, and the fifth year of a series of tasting events designed to refine and improve the consumer wine evaluation process. The Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi recognizes and celebrates the fact that every person has unique physiological and sensory differences that profoundly affect wine and food preferences. The Consumer Evaluators assessing the wines in each category are the very consumers who are most inclined to buy and enjoy the wines of that category. Consumers interested in becoming Evaluators for the CWAL, visit www.consumerwineawards.com.

For more information, contact Tim Hanni MW, [email protected] or (707)337-0327 or G.M. Pooch Pucilowski, [email protected] or 209-369-2020.

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