Accolades for Finger Lakes wines

The Jefferson Cup Invitational Wine Competition was something special.

The event was a gathering of award-winning wines to determine the best of the best. Unlike most wine competitions, an invitation was required to participate. Holding the event in mid-December allowed organizers to extend invitations to wineries that earned awards for their wines throughout the year.

After being held in Virginia for the last three years, economics prompted the event to move to the new culinary center at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Approximately 500 wines from 32 states participated in the competition, held Dec. 18 and 19.

Jefferson Cup participants vie for awards that are quite different from the traditional gold, silver and bronze medals awarded at most competitions.

The wines earn different certificates based on how they measure up against other award-winning wines. More than half of the entrants in the blind tasting earned the "Certificate of American Merit," recognizing the wine as a fine example of a variety wine.

In the next level of competition, 123 wines earned certificates as "American Examples of Greatness."

Only 67 wines made it past the next round of judging to be selected as Jefferson Cup nominees. Each was then in the running to become a Jefferson Cup winner in one of five categories.

Red and white wines were judged in the vinifera and nonvinifera categories. Both wine types were eligible to compete for the title of best overall dessert wine.

During the blind tasting of Rieslings, Jefferson Cup director Doug Frost was also one of the judges. He pushed hard for what turned out to be the Hazlitt 2002 Homestead Reserve as the best wine in that category.

"I was frustrated with the other judges," Doug said, when he could not win them over. "I have been a huge fan of Finger Lakes Rieslings for years. Finger Lakes Riesling is the best Riesling in America," he added.

Hunt Country Vineyards fared better in the competition, earning the Jefferson Cup for the best nonvinifera white wine for their 2002 Vignoles. According to co-owner Art Hunt, it is very spicy wine, with fruit reminiscent of grapefruit.

"What I really like about the invitational is that a broad range of wines are held up as examples," Art said. "It points out that there are many wine regions in the country outside of California."

The results of the competition support Art's comment. Although many California wineries - such as Beringer, Mumm and Rodney Strong - participated, four of the five Cup winners came from other states.

The vinifera red winner was Callaghan Winery's 2002 Syrah, from Arizona. The non-vinifera red winner was a 2001 Chambourcin produced by Alto Vineyards in southern Illinois, and the best dessert wine went to the Stone Hill Wine Company in Missouri for their 2002 Late Harvest Vignoles.

The Anapamu 2002 Riesling was the only wine from California to win one of the five Jefferson Cups. Other New York wines that reached the sweepstakes round were Arbor Hill's Traminette, Chateau Lafayette Reneau's 2001 Private Reserve Barrel Fermented Chardonnay and Swedish Hill's 2002 Vidal Blanc.

Jeff Richards' wine column appears Saturdays. For comments or questions, he can be reached at 607/271-8279 or 800/836-8970, ext. 279, or e-mail: jrichards