Finger Lakes Wines Compete for the 2008 Golden Nose Awards

Ken and I had the privledge of attending the the 3rd annual 2008 Golden Nose Awards in the Finger Lakes Wine Region May 30 – June 1.  This fun event was held at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, just south of Seneca Lake in upstate New York.

The weekend opened up with a judges reception Friday evening, from 6-8pm at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art in Corning, New York.  The Rockwell Museum of Western Art is considered to be “the best of the west in the east.”  Delicious hors d’oeuvres and Finger Lakes wines were served at this event.  Judges and their guests were encouraged to visit the museum’s exhibits on all 3 floors as well as visit their beautiful roof deck overlooking the city of Corning.  We were also very lucky to see the newly opening exhibit, “Yosemite 1938: On the Trail with Ansel Adams and Georgia O’Keeffe.” In 1938, photographer, Ansel Adams, took a group of friends, including Georgia O’Keeffe and David McAlpin through Yosemite’s backcountry. The album produced from images of this trip comprises the stunning landscapes of Yosemite as well as intimate candid portraits of his life-long friends. This rare album is on loan from the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  In addition to the Ansel Adams exhibit, Ken and I were also impressed with the paintings of Native Americans and western landscapes.  This event was a good opportunity to meet some of the fellow judges and winemakers, and enjoy the museum.

The Golden Nose Awards, itself, is held at the Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, New York. It is a consumer judging event, rather than a strictly professional judging event.  There is a mandatory judge training session Saturday morning, from 9:00-11:30 where professional wine judges teach you, the consumer, some of the finer points in the art of judging wine.  It was a great training! We smelled and tasted controlled samples to learn what wine should, and should not taste and smell like.  For example, wine should not smell like wet cardboard.  If it does, that probably means the wine is corked (the cork has failed and the wine has gone bad).  There were examples of acidity, sweetness, etc.. Each presenter spent about 25 minutes teaching us different aspects of the art of judging wine.  The presenters were very down to earth and some were quite humorous.  It was truly a hands on experience.  There was nothing intimidating about it.  The art of judging a wine is not something you can really learn in a book.  You really need to experience these tastes and smells first hand. 

Ken was particularly impressed with Peter Bell’s presentation.  Peter, the winemaker at Fox Run Vineyards, provided water samples to explain the various components of wine. Since most wines are generally made up of at least 80% water, this was a good starting point. Peter provided water samples with 12% ethanol to show the alcohol effect and taste of wine as compared with just plain water.  Alcohol adds body to the wine, a touch of sweetness, and tastes like vodka.  Another sample included 5% sugar, which adds body, texture, and flavor.  Acidity was added to yet another sample providing lemon like flavor and a drying effect.  Astringency was provided by adding tannin (polyphenols) to the next water sample.  Ken and I both thought this session was awesome.  Overall, the judge training was very good for novices and wine connoisseurs alike. 

There was a lunch break around 12:00.  It was a delicious lunch with salad, ham, potatoes, turkey, etc.  The actual wine judging took place from approximately 12:30-4:00, with multiple flights of wine being judged.  Ken judged approximately 28 wines over the course of 3 hours with about 6 different wine flights/varietals.  Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Double Gold awards were given out.  A Double Gold award indicates that the panel unanimously agreed that the wine was a Gold medal winner.  A Best in Class award indicates the wine had the highest combined score of the judging for that wine varietal.

We saw many people tirelessly volunteering their time to make this event such a great success.  There were event volunteers who spent much of the day performing the absolutely essential tasks of washing wine glasses, pouring flights, collecting used wine glasses, and dumping “spit buckets,” not to mention collecting and tallying wine scores.  

The judges had free time from 4-7:00pm, while the set up crew transformed the auditorium from a judging competition into a big evening celebration, all in the same physical space.  During this time, Ken and I visited the Corning Museum of Glass.  If you haven’t visited, you should check it out.  It’s a great museum.  The exhibit I found most interesting highlighted Drs. Donald B. Keck, Robert D. Maurer and Peter C. Schultz, who invented low-loss optical fiber, while working at Corning Incorporated in the 1970s.  You may say to yourself, what is that? and why is it important? Keck, Maurer and Schultz’ invention, recognized as a monumental technical breakthrough, paved the way for the commercialization of optical fiber, creating a revolution in telecommunications and laying the cornerstone for the information superhighway.  If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog post, and you wouldn’t be reading it!  Needless to say, we loved the museum. 

We left the museum around 6:00, and hurried back to our hotel room to get changed for the festive evening ahead, complete with great food, wine, and entertainment, not to mention the Golden Nose Awards.

We arrived back at the Corning Museum of Glass around 7:00.  The tight schedule during the day was essential to beginning the Golden Nose Award celebration on time at 7:00.  The food was fantastic and included, among other dishes, beef apple Gorgonzola crostini, grilled beef tenderloin with red demi glace, seared duck breast with red currant glaze, French green lentil with feta cheese and mint, pan seared sea bass with lemon butter on a bed of wild rice pilaf, and yummy scalloped potatoes.  My favorite was the sea bass and Ken’s was the tenderloin.  The dessert table was truly decadent as well.  My favorite desserts were the huge chocolate covered strawberries and the chocolate mousse. 

As you might expect, the Finger Lakes wines judged during the day were also featured at the party that evening.  There were approximately 292 wines judged that day.  The best of which, were served that evening. The top awards went to the following wines:

Best of Class:

Sheldrake Point, Summer White 2006
Lakewood, Riesling 2007
Goose Watch, Viognier 2007
Goose Watch, Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Hickory Hollow, Liquid Wisdom NV
Seneca Shore, Sherry 1997
Red Newt, Cabernet Franc 2005

Double Gold:

Glenora, Alpine White NV
Lakewood, Dry Riesling 2007
Torrey Ridge, Niagara NV
Earle Estate Meadery, Peach Perfection NV
Billsboro, Cabernet Franc 2006
Hosmer, Riesling 2007

Our favorite wines of the weekend were the Lakewood 2007 Riesling, Lakewood 2007 “Dry Riesling,” Hosmer 2007 Riesling, Billsboro 2006 Cabernet Franc, Leidenfrost Vineyards 2007 Gewürztraminer,  Wagner 2007 Riesling Ice Wine, Atwater 2006 Riesling, Atwater 2006 Dry Riesling, Anthony Road 2006 Rose of Cab Franc, and Anthony Road 2006 Semi Dry Riesling.

Did I mention the entertainment was terrific?  We enjoyed listening to the very talented, local favorite, Virgil Cain.  As I listened to him, I kept thinking he could be the next American Idol.  The author of the Finger Lakes Weekend Wino blog, Rob Lane, also made a guest appearance.  We were lucky enough to meet and speak with Rob later in the evening.  We have been reading Rob’s The Finger Lakes Weekend Wino wine blog for over a year and it was great to finally meet Rob face to face.  We are admirers of his very informative wine blog devoted to the Finger Lakes Wine Region.  

We thoroughly enjoyed our first Golden Nose Awards. The 2009 Golden Nose Award date has already been set for May 30, 2009.  It’s not too early to make a note of it, and mark your calendars for next year.  The Golden Nose Award is a fun event.  As we have said before, the Finger Lakes Wine Region is a destination for wine lovers!

Cheers,

Theresa and Ken