SEBASTOPOL, Calif., April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — This year's 11th Annual Pinot Noir Summit was a bustling convergence of Pinot Noir lovers with over 500 zealous devotees of the quirky grape in attendance.
Held March 16th at The Presidio in San Francisco, the Summit is the culmination of the Affairs of the Vine Pinot Noir Shootout which has grown to be the largest head to head competition of Pinot Noirs in the wine world.
This year, over 460 Pinot Noirs from growing regions spanning the globe were submitted and ran the gauntlet through 3 months of blind tasting and evaluation by the Affairs of the Vine judging panel comprised of 40 wine experts. All wines are tasted and evaluated twice before they can proceed to the finals. Just 32 wines are tasted by the experts per day, allowing the judges to be completely immersed, focused and fair to the wines. Palate fatigue is not a factor in the tastings. The wines are tasted completely blind without reference to appellation, vintage or price. The top wines are then showcased at the Pinot Noir Summit where attendees participate in workshops, blind tastings and the Grand Awards Tasting.
"It's been truly fascinating as well as highly rewarding over the past 11 years to see the continued evolution and advancement of Pinot Noir," stated Barbara Drady, Chief Wine Evangelist of Affairs of the Vine, producer of the Pinot Noir Shootout and Summit. "We continue to see old friends who consistently push the envelope producing stunning examples of Pinot Noir plus newcomers who are creating new releases of amazing quality."
At this year's Summit, 42 of the top-rated wines were featured in a distinctly different format and atmosphere from other wine-tasting events, as attendees blind tasted the wines and pitted their palates against the expert judging panel. The wines were divided into 2 groups of 21 wines each (the Black Group and the Silver Group). The wines were wrapped individually and identified by a random color. The male and female votes were tallied separately.
When the balloting was completed, these top producers were recognized for having achieved the highest level of excellence in this year's competition.
| Anderson Oaks Black Star Farms Breathless Wines Canihan Wines Domaine Chandon Domaine Carneros Double Bond Wine Field Stone Freixenet Gloria Ferrer Graton Ridge Cellars Gruet Handley Cellars J2 Winery Laetitia Vineyard & Winery LaMontagne Winery Mahoney Vineyards Portalupi Wines Roederer Estate Scharffenberger Schramsberg Segura Viudas |
Complete Pinot Noir Shootout results here
As this year's Pinot Noir Shootout and Summit comes to its exciting conclusion, Affairs of the Vine is now moving forward with the 2nd Annual Rhone Shootout and Romancing the Rhones event. Details
Wineries wishing to participate should contact Affairs of the Vine.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information, visit: Affairs of the Vine
Journalists may contact Barbara Drady: Email, 707-874-1975
AFFAIRS of the VINE
Barbara Drady, Chief Wine Evangelist
696 Elliott Lane
Sebastopol, CA 95472
707.874.1975
Email