23 Kentucky vintners earned 17 gold medals
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 25, 2014) — Shepherdsville’s Wight-Meyer Vineyard and Winery was awarded the Commissioner’s Cup for the top Kentucky wine in more than one category at the 2014 Kentucky Commonwealth Commercial Wine Competition & Commissioner’s Cup on Saturday in Lexington.
“In just its second year, this event was very competitive with more medals and more double golds awarded than last year,” Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said. “We established the competition as a rigorous test for Kentucky’s wineries, and they rose to the challenge.”
Wight-Meyer’s Vignoles was voted Best Dry White wine, and its “Pine Creek Summer” earned honors as Best Sweet/Dessert/Fruit wine.
Old 502 Winery of Louisville won Best Dry Red wine for its “Bourbon Barrel Red.” StoneBrook Winery of Camp Springs won Best Rosé/Blush Wine for its Dry Rosé 2013. Baker-Bird Winery in Augusta, won Best Boutique (Small Production) Wine. for its “Kentucky Black Barrel 2012.”
To claim the Commissioner’s Cup, a wine must earn at least a gold medal in Commercial competition and must be produced from at least 75 percent Kentucky fruit, said Tyler Madison, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Grape & Wine Marketing Program manager.
Two wines from Old 502 Winery earned double gold medals. A wine from Baker-Bird Winery also took double-gold-medal honors. The double golds signify that each judge independently awarded gold-medal status to the wine. The three double-gold winners were:
- “Bach’s Wine,” Old 502, made from Chambourcin and Concord grapes;
- “Bore Dough,” Old 502, made from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Merlot grapes
- “Black Barrel Cabernet,” Baker-Bird Winery, made from Cabernet Franc grapes.
Baker-Bird and Old 502 each also entered a gold-medal-winning wine. Other gold medals went to wines from Misty Meadow Winery of Owensboro (3), Purple Toad Winery of Paducah (3), Wight-Meyer (3), StoneBrook Winery (2), Prodigy Winery of Frankfort, Reid’s Livery Winery of Alvaton, Rising Sons Winery of Lawrenceburg, and Wildside Winery of Versailles.
The 144 entries from 23 Kentucky vintners earned a total of 17 gold medals, 64 silver medals, and 43 bronze medals, Madison said.
Madison said the annual showcase is becoming a reliable guide “for those looking to locate the best wines Kentucky has to offer each year” from the more than 70 Kentucky wineries.
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