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Wine Judging | Friday
Night Seminar | Saturday Seminar | Public Tasting
History
The Tri-Cities Wine Festival began in 1979 as
a fundraiser for a new copier for the Tri-Cities Visitor & Convention
Bureau. However, it was also envisioned as a vehicle for
promoting Northwest wines, and the Tri-Cities as a tourist
destination. The festival was held in July during Water follies
weekend at the Hanford House Thunderbird hotel in Richland. Modeled after the Seattle
Wine Festival, the event featured over 40 wines from
13 Northwest wineries. The only advertising was a sandwich board in
front of the hotel.
In 1990 the Tri-Cities Wine Society assumed sponsorship. Through the
help of several area supporters, the Society received enough seed money
to continue the festival. The festival has continued each year,
and as the Pacific Northwest wine
industry has grown and changed, so has the festival.
For a detailed history of the festival, click here.
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Wine
Judging
Wines
are entered in the Tri-Cities Wine Festival from Oregon,
Washington, Idaho
and British Columbia
wineries.
Thursday
and Friday prior to the public tasting, a panel of five well qualified
wine judges sample all the entries. These judges are drawn from an
experienced pool of candidates from the United States and sometimes
worldwide. Past judges have included well recognized wine writers for
major publications, sommeliers, wine distributors or buyers for major
chains, Masters of Wine, winemakers or wine educators. Many have had
extensive judging experience at such prestigious events as the Los
Angeles County Wine Competition, the Dallas Wine Fair and international
competitions.
For
the first time, the Tri-Cities Wine Festival will be at the Three Rivers
Convention Center in Kennewick. This new
venue will provide the space for more wineries to showcase Northwest
wines and for the festival to grow and expand. In previous years, up to
350 wines were entered into competition by up to 80 wineries. The
Convention Center will permit these numbers to be expanded.
As in
the past, judging is to be conducted under strict and exacting
guidelines. Double blind standards insure an objective and unbiased
examination of all entered wines. We follow the Wine Institute’s
guidelines for objective competitions. Bronze, silver and gold medals are
awarded, plus a Best of Show award. The judges are told only the year and
the category of each wine, and in some cases the
residual sugar (when relevant). The wines are randomized within each
tasting round — or “flight” as they are called —
to assure that neither alphabetical order nor entry order can be a
revealing factor. Flights are limited to no more than 20-24 wines. Should
entries exceed that number (as in popular varietals such as Cabernet
Sauvignon or Merlot), pass/fail flights first eliminate non-medal
contenders. Wines that pass this round then go into a final flight for
possible medal winners. Best of Show is selected from among the gold
medal winners.
More
info about this year’s Judges
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Friday
Night Seminar
Pairing
of gourmet cuisine and fine Northwest wines will be the topic. The
seminar will focus of the selection of wines that complement "fine
foods" or those occasional and more elegant dishes you might serve
to impress your guests. This 6-course education will start with an array
of passed hors d'oeuvres and end with an elegant Belgian chocolate
dessert. And although the wine selections are still being finalized, the
preliminary reviews promise an extraordinary palate experience.
Tickets
for the Friday event will be available through Ticketmaster and the Toyota Center
Box Office at the Toyota
Center, which is
next to the Convention Center, beginning August 26.
More info about this year’s Friday Night Seminar
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Saturday
Seminars
Multiple
seminars are scheduled for Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon. These
seminars are being kept simple and inexpensive to encourage attendance.
Seminars have been selected to appeal to a range of individual desires
and each will be guided by experts in the given topic. Check out the list
of seminars at the link below.
Tickets
for seminars will be available through Ticketmaster and the Toyota Center
Box Office at the Toyota
Center, which is
next to the Convention Center, beginning August 26.
More info about this year’s Seminars
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Public
Tasting and Silent Auction
"Saturday
night, starting at 6:30 PM and lasting until 9:30 PM, the Three Rivers
Convention Center Great Hall will be a fabulous concentration of
Northwest Wines. Over 100 wineries are expected to be pouring samples of
more than 300 wines. During the evening, the award winners are announced
in a festive display marking the winning wines with medals and the
positioning of balloons to signal where the bronze, silver and gold
medals can be found. Finally, the much anticipated Best of Show Award is
presented to the wine deemed by the judges to best represent the finest
example of craftsmanship and style.
At
this time the silent auction also takes place featuring many one time
opportunities for wines and wine-related arts and gifts. Part of the proceeds from the silent auction are
earmarked to support the Tri-Cities Wine Society educational fund through
the Washington Wine Foundation.
More info about this year’s Public Tasting
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