Those of
you that are regular readers know I don't do a lot of back patting for favorite
wineries or rate wines. My intent to promote the Central Coast, keep you up to
date on industry trends and events in which you might want to participate. One
of the big regional events is the Mid State Fair. California has a state fair
company that plans the actual State Fair but several area wide mini-fairs. Most
wine lovers have heard of the LA, Orange County and State Fair wine
competitions due to awards being touted in wine advertising. Each of the
regional fairs has its own area tasting as well.
The Mid State event is held in Paso Robles and takes up
about half of July. A mix of animals, rodeo, bad-for-you food, a midway and
tons of music, it is a very well attended operation. Over 411 thousand attended
this year, nearly 68K bought concert tickets (there are free stages as well), concessions
raked in over a million dollars and half again that much with the carnival.
Livestock sales were in excess of $2MM!
Next year's dates will be Wednesday the 16th through Sunday the 27th of
July. The web portal is midstatefair.com.
So, like I said, it is a popular happening and no less so
for wine. The judging is open to wineries that can label their product as being
Central Coast (or subset) AVAs (American Viticultural Areas). This is bounded
by San Francisco County on the north and through Ventura County to the south
for counties bordering the ocean. It encompasses over 360 wineries and produces
fifteen percent of California's wine grape production. Given that, it is no
surprise that the wine competition had 543 entries plus another 157 home wine
makers in the non-commercial event. Olive oil, a growth industry in the region
had 83 participants and home brewers - a resurgence of which I wrote about
recently - had 96 entries.
Now to my point of the disclaimer above. Nearly thirty five
years ago, after a stint in wholesaling for a portfolio that covered the cream
of the Napa/Sonoma labels, I began Oenotechnique
and offered consulting services, staff training, purchasing and inventory
controls, and wine list design for restaurants. One day a guy named Gary Eberle
happened to dine at one of my accounts and invited me to check out the Paso
Robles area on my next California visit. I did a lot of fests and trade shows
in those days, seeking less known wines of quality that I could feature for my
clients operations. I took Gary's advice and tied a client show & tell trip
to a look at Santa Barbara. Neither area had a lot of wineries in those days
but I wanted to expand my offerings and have more depth of California
selections.
I liked what I tasted and still do. When I think of the growth in the region, I didn't
need all my toes and fingers for SLO and Santa Barbara counties then. Now I
could pick a winery a day (including Monterey) and barely get through the
available labels! I'm going, therefore, to break with my normal reluctance to
indulge in back patting and happily note that the Central Coast Winery
Competition "Winery of the Year" was awarded to TA DA - Eberle
Winery. The award recognizes the winery that provides the most exceptional
selection of wines to the panel. At least five wines must be submitted to
qualify. Gary's winners included: Cotes -du Robles Blanc '11, the 2012 Muscat
Canelli and Viognier winning Gold and Best of Class, another Gold for the '09
Cabernet and Silver awards for four others, plus three Bronze medals. Those
included varietals such as Barbera, Sangiovese and blended Cabernet Syrah. Nice
job from a winemaker that has supported and promoted the industry for all the
years since we first met. If you are interested in obtaining some of these
medal winners, the web site (eberlewinery.com) has an on line store. Or you can
take advantage of one of the increasingly rare tasting rooms with complimentary
sampling and stop by any day of the week, along Hwy. 46 E in Paso Robles.
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