Published: July 24, 2009 09:05 am      

Wide River Winery honored with awards

CLINTON — Wide River Winery of Clinton received three silver medals and a bronze medal in the Third Annual Mid-American Wine Competition held at the Des Moines Area Community College, Ankeny Campus.

“These wines were top notch,” said Bob Foster, director of the Mid-American Wine Competition. “Consumers ought to track them down and taste them.”

The competition was held July 10 to 12 and included wines from 16 Midwestern states. More than 630 wines were entered by 95 different wineries. Professional wine judges from throughout the United States awarded 48 gold medals, 155 silver medals and 217 bronze medals. Full results can be found at www.midamericanwine.org.

“The quality of the wines from the Midwest is very impressive,” said lead judge Doug Frost of Kansas City. “It conclusively demonstrates that the Midwest is making top notch wines.”

In selecting judges, emphasis was placed upon finding experts in wine production, wine service and wine distribution. The judges were selected by Chief Judge Doug Frost of Kansas City, who is one of only three persons in the world to earn both the coveted Master of Wine degree and the Master Sommelier title. The judging panel included a mix of seasoned professionals and a select group of local wine aficionados who passed a strenuous Judges Qualifying Exam. The judges included Richard Peterson, famed California wine maker who was born and raised in Iowa and made his first wine on a farm less than 10 miles from the competition’s site; Ellen Landis, California wine writer and Sommelier; Wayne Belding, Master Sommelier from Colorado; Christopher Cook, director of the Michigan State Fair wine competition; Dr. Murli Dharmadhikari, Iowa State Extension Enologist. The judges have more than 200 years of cumulative judging experience.

“The local volunteers who made this competition possible were some of the finest, hard-working people I have ever met,” said Foster, who has been running wine competitions for over 25 years. “They were superb and made the competition possible. They were flawless.”