Humboldt County wineries made some very good wine in '09, some of which was sourced from Humboldt grown grapes. There are now over 25 bonded wineries in the county, with more springing up all the time. It appears that a slight majority of the wine being made is from grapes sourced outside the county.
The top two wines in the 2010 Humboldt County Fair were no exception: Briceland Vineyards Winery had the top honors with it's 2009 Spirit Canyon Vineyard Mendocino County Arneis winning Best of Show and Best White Wine. Moonstone Crossing took the award for Best Red Wine with it's Sangiovese based blend, 2006 Wish Upon a Star. In fact, all of the 4 gold medal wines in the event were from out of the area, including Dogwood's Cornus and Feildbrook's Mendocino Sauvignon Blanc.
Some of the medal earning wines were from Humboldt grapes, including Rosina's Silver for a Pinot Noir, and Briceland's Silver for a Pinot Noir and for Brut Sparkling and a Bronze for a second Pinot Noir.
To be fair to the grapes of Humboldt, some of the wineries that produce lots of wine from Humboldt grapes were not entered in the fair, including Cabot and Riverbend.
2010 looks like a tough year, with a cool spring and a few bad days of heat leading to sunburn. Let's hope for a long fall and some small but high quality vintages. Cross your fingers.
PS. If anyone has items that they feel deserve discussion here, send them to me for review.
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