Top Winemakers and Chefs Delight Fans at North Coast Wine & Food Festival in Santa Rosa Chris Lehoux, June 16, 2024 Best of the Best: Trentadue 2021 La Storia Cuveé 32, Alexander Valley (47% Sangiovese, 31% Merlot, 22% Montepulciano) Best of Show Sparkling: Scharffenberger Cellars 2019 Blanc de Blancs, Mendocino County Best of Show White: Pennyroyal Farms 2023 PinoTrio, Anderson Valley (40% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Blanc, 20% Pinot Gris) Best of Show Rosé: Imagery Estate 2023 Aleatico Rosé, Sonoma Valley Best of Show Red: Trentadue 2021 La Storia Cuveé 32, Alexander Valley (47% Sangiovese, 31% Merlot, 22% Montepulciano) Best of Show Dessert Wine: Carol Shelton 2023 Black Magic, Late Harvest Zinfandel, Sonoma County Valley (47% Sangiovese, 31% Merlot, 22% Montepulciano) Best of Napa County: Black Stallion 2021 Collector’s Edition Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Best of Mendocino County: Pennyroyal Farms 2023 PinoTrio, Anderson Valley (40% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Blanc, 20% Pinot Gris) Best of Lake County: Brassfield Estate Winery 2021 Grenache, High Valley Best of Solano County: Vezér Family Vineyard 2020 Blue Victorian Sangiovese, Suisun Valley Primed to taste award-winning wines and gourmet bites from some of the top chefs in the North Bay, more than 1,000 people gathered Saturday at the North Coast Wine & Food Festival at Santa Rosa’s Luther Burbank Center for the Arts. Hosted by The Press Democrat, the afternoon event showcased top-scoring wines from 102 wineries. These wines earned a gold medal or higher in the publication’s North Coast Wine Challenge in April. The competition brought together 30 esteemed judges who tasted and assessed 1,094 wine entries from the North Coast AVA (American Viticulture Area), which includes Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Marin and Lake counties, as well as parts of Solano County. Wearing a black T-shirt with “Wine Drinking Team” emblazoned on it, Laura McCarter, co-vintner of Santa Rosa’s McCarter Cellars, said she was excited to pour her pinot noir. The McCarter Cellars, 2022 Forchini Vineyards, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, priced at $50, snagged Best of Class. Calling the festival “synergy in motion,” co-vintner Dennis McCarter, who crafted the pinot noir, said, “the great food at the event elevates the great wine and the great wine elevates the great food.” Paying $95 for a general admission ticket (or $160 for the VIP experience), festival attendees were particularly eager to taste the top-scoring wine in the competition, the “Best of the Best” Trentadue 2021 La Storia Cuveé 32, Alexander Valley. “Beautiful balance. Bright. Huckleberry. Crème de Cassis. Very juicy,” said the judges of the Italian red blend (47% Sangiovese, 31% Merlot, 22% Montepulciano) during the North Coast Wine Challenge. Russell Marcoux was on a mission to get a pour of the coveted red. Sniffing the Italian red, Marcoux said, “I absolutely wanted to taste the Best of the Best. Trentadue is a great winery and this wine is very smooth and delicious.” Trentadue winemaker Miro Tcholakov said the fact that his Italian red bested a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon and Russian River Pinot Noir in the final round points to the popularity of these blends. “Italian blends are more food friendly, with nicely balanced alcohol, tannin and fruit and it got all the judges excited,” Tcholakov said. With temperatures in the 80s, guests sipped and grazed through the sun-kissed day, while listening to Latin music ― jazz and salsa ― from the Sonoma County-based band Batacha. But they didn’t dally ― they had a lot of wine to taste. Plotting her path with a map of the wineries, Allison Weakley of Burlingame, was determined to try a range of wine in the double digits. “The map helps me be more organized in my approach,” Weakley explained. “I’m ticking off the ones we got to. Twenty-five sounds like a good goal. I’m taking notes of producers I haven’t heard of before.” The fact that these wines were vetted by professional judges was a big draw, Weakley said. She intends to come back to the North Bay to visit tasting rooms and potentially become a wine club member of some of her favorites. Eric Johnston, chief executive officer and publisher of Sonoma Media Investments, said the festival aligns with the core mission of The Press Democrat. “We introduce our readers to wide and varied topics to educate, inform and delight,” Johnston explained. “In this particular case, we bring together dozens and dozens of the best wines our region has to offer, pair them with amazing food from top chefs and let them experience the richness of the best of North Coast wine and food.” The annual festival benefits Sonoma Family Meal, a nonprofit that provides prepared meals to those in need. (Heather Irwin, founder of Sonoma Family Meal, is the dining editor of Sonoma Media Investments, which owns The Press Democrat.) The most compelling aspect of the festival is the caliber of the wines, according to Liz Thach. The president of the Wine Market Council, an association that focuses on market research, is also a wine writer who served as one of the judges. “They’re all from the North Coast of California, one of the greatest wine growing regions on earth and so you rarely encounter a faulty wine,” she said. The geographic scope of the contest is what makes it unique, said the competition’s chief judge and organizer Daryl Groom. “Almost every other competition I know judges wines from broader regions or all over the world,” explained Groom, who is also the vintner of Groom Wines, an award-winning label. “The North Coast has unbelievably high-quality wines,” he said. “It’s no real surprise that 95% of the wines got medals and 36% with gold or above. It puts a smile on my face to know we have such talented winemakers and a great world-class region for growing grapes.” Top-winning wines drawing a crowd at the festival included the Scharffenberger Cellars, 2019 Blanc de Blancs, Mendocino County, which snagged 98 points in the competition; the Imagery Estate, 2023 Aleatico Rosé, Sonoma Valley, scoring 98 points; and the Pennyroyal Farms, 2023 PinoTrio, Anderson Valley, earning 99 points. Entering the North Coast Wine Challenge for the first time this year, co-vintners Jodie and Jeff Morgan of Berkeley’s Covenant Wines said they were excited to win two gold medals. They won for their Covenant, 2022 Lavan Chardonnay and their Landsman, 2022 Carneros Pinot Noir. “Great wine-making is very simple,” said Jeff, who leads the wine-making team. “It’s good grape sources combined with, I hope, competent winemaking.” The culinary lineup included Sonoma’s Wit & Wisdom, Healdsburg’s Lo & Behold, and Sonoma’s El Dorado Kitchen. Several restaurants made their North Coast Wine & Food Festival debut this year, including Healdsburg’s Goodnight’s Prime Steak + Spirits, and Santa Rosa’s Italian L’Oro di Napoli and Puerto Rican El Coqui. as well as Sebastopol’s The Redwood and Goldfinch restaurants. Self-proclaimed “super foodie” Banyan Parker of Santa Rosa said she was smitten with Goldfinch’s fire roasted beets in a bamboo cone. “I came back three times to ask about it and compliment it,” said the attorney with her own Santa Rosa practice, Banyan Parker Law. “It’s complex and each layer of the beet salad has something truly independent.” The signature dish has a following at the restaurant, according to Goldfinch owner Nick Izzarelli. He said the beets are fire roasted and the dish also has pistachio, pickled onion, orange salt and caramelized yogurt on top. “People often come into the restaurant because someone told them about this dish,” he said. “They say they have to try it.” Following her curious palate, Georgia Meisler of Santa Rosa, came to the festival for the first time to seek out great wine and like-minded wine lovers. Meisler and her husband, Marty, moved to Santa Rosa in 2023 from Los Angeles to plant themselves in a world class wine-growing region. The festival, Meisler said, is unique because it offers one-stop sipping for 100-plus award-winning wines. “We’re for sure wine lovers and we’re trying to build community,” she said. “We’re outdoorsy people who like clean air and access to open space, good food and good wine. What else do you need? It’s a good life.” Best of the Best: Trentadue 2021 La Storia Cuveé 32, Alexander Valley (47% Sangiovese, 31% Merlot, 22% Montepulciano) Best of Show Sparkling: Scharffenberger Cellars 2019 Blanc de Blancs, Mendocino County Best of Show White: Pennyroyal Farms 2023 PinoTrio, Anderson Valley (40% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Blanc, 20% Pinot Gris) Best of Show Rosé: Imagery Estate 2023 Aleatico Rosé, Sonoma Valley Best of Show Red: Trentadue 2021 La Storia Cuveé 32, Alexander Valley (47% Sangiovese, 31% Merlot, 22% Montepulciano) Best of Show Dessert Wine: Carol Shelton 2023 Black Magic, Late Harvest Zinfandel, Sonoma County Valley (47% Sangiovese, 31% Merlot, 22% Montepulciano) Best of Napa County: Black Stallion 2021 Collector’s Edition Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Best of Mendocino County: Pennyroyal Farms 2023 PinoTrio, Anderson Valley (40% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Blanc, 20% Pinot Gris) Best of Lake County: Brassfield Estate Winery 2021 Grenache, High Valley Best of Solano County: Vezér Family Vineyard 2020 Blue Victorian Sangiovese, Suisun Valley About the Author: Chris Lehoux Meet Chris Lehoux, an experienced wine connoisseur and dedicated blogger with a deep passion for all things wine-related. With years of expertise in the industry, Chris shares insightful wine reviews, valuable wine tasting tips, expert pairing advice, and captivating tales of vineyard visits. Join Chris on a journey through the world of wine, where every sip is an adventure waiting to be savored! Wine