Oh yeah, I have a blog... (and notes on the NextGen Wine Competition)

Wow, it has been quite a while since I've written a blog post! The few weeks have been busy, but mostly I've been lazy. I've got a lot to catch up on though! I was in California judging at a competition and made a few winery visits during my free time. I got back to Denver just in time for the Colorado Urban Winefest. And to top it off, I had a couple of great dinners with some impressive wines with friends and acquaintances the past few days.

I'll get to those stories in due time, but this post is about the NextGen Wine Competition. For the second year, I was invited by Vineyard and Winery Management (VWM) to judge at the NextGen Wine Competition. The competition was designed specifically with younger (and increasingly more important) wine consumers in mind, and was judged by qualified and knowledgeable wine industry millennials aged 21-35. Most of the judges were from California, but there were a handful from the likes of Colorado, Wisconsin and Illinois. One of the things that Rob Merletti, CEO/Publisher of VWM, mentioned in his speech at the judges' dinner was that he wanted to use the NextGen (and the other 5 competitions VWM owns) as a way to introduce the rest of the wine industry to the grapes and wines of the other 47 states not named California, Oregon and Washington. Being from the east coast, Rob explained that he was introduced to wine via the likes of Chambourcin, Norton and Baco Noir and he hopes that many of America's new wine consumers will discover wine via a similar path of non-traditional varieties from their local wine regions. I was pleasantly surprised that a few of the Cali judges knew what traminette was, but still too many were not aware of how brianna, muscadine and cayuga should be judged. Nevertheless, I applaud Rob and VWM for being so progressive with their vision of the future of the American wine industry. Oh, and vidal blanc made it to the sweepstakes tasting!

Ben's Bubbly: Barefoot Brut Cuvée

Ben has added a new weapon to his arsenal of mobility. One of his favorite new things to do is to stand on his feet. He mostly likes to hold onto mom or dad's fingers and pull himself up, but he is slowly starting to grab onto things, like the edge of the bathtub or laundry baskets, and stand up on his own. While holding on to our fingers, he has no balance, but still tries to lift his little feet and step towards a toy, or even more exciting: a cat. Speaking of the cats, they both are developing more patience with Ben although he still gets a paw to the top of the head when he gets too grabby. Pretty soon they will have their worlds completely upside down when Ben can run after them.

Barefoot Brut Cuvée

After drinking sparkling wines weekly 30 weeks, it is about time one of them actually disappointed. First, it annoys me to see the term word "champagne" on a wine label not from Champagne, France. Unfortunately, an agreement between the U.S. and the E.U. allows U.S. wineries to use the term "champagne"  in conjunction with an appropriate appellation, such as "California," if winery used the semi-generic name (i.e. Champagne) prior to 2006. I am hopeful that with the efforts of the Center for Wine Origins the use of eponymous place names will no longer be allowed on wines from anywhere else.

To top it off, what was in the bottle was also disappointing. I'm not sure what I was expecting, though I have been pleasantly surprised by Barefoot wines in the past. Too bad this sparkling wine isn't a part of that list. When a winery website features a link for cocktail recipes for the wine, you know that it is meant to be mixed. A disjointed mess of acidity and crisp apple make this wine something to avoid if you're planning on drinking it straight. I happen to enjoy mimosas, but feel that using quality wine to mix with orange juice does the wine an injustice. Well, that is where wines like this can serve a purpose.11% abv Purchased $8. Poor/Average