Archive for July, 2010

THREE KENTUCKY WINERIES WIN 12 MEDALS

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Three Kentucky wineries brought home 12 medals, including four golds, from the 2010 Mid-American Wine Competition in Ankeny, Iowa.

Harkness Edwards Vineyards in Winchester won two gold medals – one for its Vat 32 Viognier wine and one for the wine’s label in the Most Unique category. Harkness Edwards also received a silver medal for the label on its Taste the Sun bottle.

Wight-Meyer Vineyard and Winery in Shepherdsville won five medals, the most among Kentucky wineries. Its Diamond wine won gold, its Vignoles wine received silver, and its Dry Chardonnay, Chambourcin and Norton Reserve each got bronzes.

Elk Creek Vineyard and Winery in Owenton won a gold medal for the Best Series label on its Orchard Creek Series. The series also received three bronze medals for its Sweet Blueberry, Sweet Pomegranate and Sweet Strawberry wines.

The fourth annual Mid-American Wine Competition on July 9-11 was open only to commercial wineries in Kentucky and 15 other states across the Midwest – Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

The Mid-American is the first competition in the nation in which wines are judged with carefully selected, food-friendly dishes, allowing the wines to be evaluated based on their synergism with food. Wine labels were also judged in seven categories: Best Label, Best Imaging, Best Series, Most Humorous, Most Humorous Series, Most Sophisticated and Most Unique.

Proceeds from the competition support the Enology International Internship program at Des Moines Area Community College, which hosted the event.

KENTUCKY WINE DOCUMENTARY EARNS NATIONAL HONORS

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A documentary about Kentucky’s growing wine industry has won three national awards for excellence.

“Vintage Kentucky: The Vine to Wine Experience” was honored by the 31st annual Telly Awards with two Silver Telly awards, the organization’s highest award, in the Cultural and History/Biography categories and a Bronze Telly in the Travel/Tourism category. The Telly Awards honor the best local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, video and film productions, and work created for the Web.

“This documentary very effectively told the story of our wine industry’s rich history and its bright future,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer. “These awards will bring new attention to Kentucky’s outstanding wines and some of the talented, hard-working people who produce them.”

A judging panel of 350 accomplished industry professionals, each a past winner of a Silver Telly and a member of the Silver Telly Council, judged more than 13,000 entries from all 50 states and around the world. Fewer than 10 percent of entries are chosen for the Silver Telly.

“Vintage Kentucky: The Vine to Wine Experience,” a project of the Kentucky Grape and Wine Council and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, is a 30-minute documentary that tells the story of Kentucky’s wine industry from its status as a national leader in the 1800s to its demise as a result of Prohibition to its current re-emergence. The documentary was co-produced by New West LLC of Louisville.

KET, which first aired the documentary in November 2009, has added more showings to its upcoming schedule. “Vintage Kentucky: The Vine to Wine Experience” may be purchased on DVD.