If St. James Winery were playing blackjack, it would have definitely come up a winner at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition by hitting 21! Twenty-one bottles of wine were shipped from St. James, Missouri to California for the competition, and when it was all said and done, each one of those bottles came home with a medal.
At this kick-off competition for the 2012 wine judging season, two of St. James Winery’s wines were honored with Best of Class Awards: Best of Class for Red Native American went to the 2009 Cynthiana, and Best of Class for Fruits went to St. James Winery’s Raspberry. The good news continued with gold medals for 2010 Seyval and Strawberry.
St. James Winery also received silver medals for its 2010 Traminette, 2010 Chardonel, 2010 Vignoles, Velvet White, Friendship School White, Blackberry, Peach, and Cherry, bringing the total of silver medals to eight. Rounding out the award-winning entries were nine bronze medals, which went to 2008 Norton, 2009 Chambourcin, Riesling, Velvet Red, Friendship School Red, Country Red, Country White, Pink Catawba, and Blueberry.
“When you send wine to a major competition like the one in San Francisco, and every single bottle comes back home with a medal,” said Peter Hofherr, CEO of St. James Winery, “that’s just a great way to start a new year! Especially when you consider that our wines were among 5,500 wines entered. This year San Francisco set a new American wine competition record for entries, and it’s the ninth consecutive year it will rank as the “Largest Competition of American Wines in the World. So, winning in San Francisco is big news!”
St. James Winery is the largest and most awarded winery in Missouri. During the 2011 competition season, St. James Winery’s won a total of nine Best of Class, five double gold, and 42 gold medals, along with 126 silver and 76 bronze medals. Celebrating more than 40 years as a family owned and operated winery, St. James Winery wines are sold in stores throughout the Midwest and the South. St. James Winery is online at www.stjameswinery.com.
