North Idaho Wine Rodeo 2011

As summer arrives and the plans start to fall into place for the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo, the judges, coordinators, distributors, and wineries get ready to start on the North Idaho Wine Rodeo commercial wine competition. Like last year we are receiving entries from all over the world spanning most every varietal category and retail price point. With about half of the entries still to be cataloged we have reviewed over 135 entries. Again this year the largest category looks to be red blends with over 27 entered already!

While we have already seen many of the same wines from last year entered again this year, including many of the winners we are also seeing many new participants. The Northwest is again well represented including our local wineries, however California, Europe, South America and Australia and New Zealand all have wines entered.

For those wineries still hoping to participate you have about a week to submit entries. There is in fact huge incentive for the wineries to participate. Ribbons and accolades are distributed for the top three finishers in each varietal category. The winner of each varietal category then moves up to Best in Show Red and Best in Show White where the two winners this year walk away with a genuine rodeo belt buckle presented to the winemaker that has been specifically designed for our North Idaho competition.

The very popular Best Label for red and white will be awarded too. We heard from virtually every distributor and winning winery that the exposure and praise they received from the competition led to increases in both interest and sales.

Perhaps even more compelling for the wineries and for all of us as wine consumers is that once a wine is entered in the Rodeo it is eligible to be poured at the public tasting event which will be held 3-6 p.m. on the last Saturday of the Fair, August 27. We are anticipating a great turnout and there are several improvements on tap, including a new venue that will be decked out like the Winter Wine Rodeo was last year. There will be access to both indoor and outdoor spaces, local restaurants will be participating and of course we will have the opportunity to taste many different wines including this year's winners.

There will be one change in the judges this year as Mark Daanen will not be able to participate but will still include Eric Cook, sommelier from Beverly's in the Coeur d'Alene Resort. Eric in my opinion possesses one of the most sophisticated palates in the region and the invaluable experience of overseeing the largest wine list around. Jenniffer Curan will also be returning which for me is great news as she brings the perspective of serving some of the savviest wine consumers in the area from her position at the Club at Blackrock. In her role at Blackrock she is exposed to big name wines daily and understands how to assess them on the behalf of the consuming public.

The competitive part of this event would simply not be possible without the work of our great coordinators.

Lynne Moyer of Hayden Beverage has again signed up for the full event which is a lot of work for her, but without her expertise and training we simply could not do what we do as judges. Lynne will be joined this year on a part time basis by Alison Atkins from Click Distributing, Lauren Jacobson of Varietals LLC, and Deb Keller of Idaho Wine Merchants will be contributing as well. We thank all of them in advance for their help.

The Fair Board and specifically Chelsea Rosenberger and Chris Holloway have again enthusiastically supported the Wine Rodeo and the wine community recognizes their commitment and will contribute a portion of the proceeds of the event to the Fair and the Fairgrounds for their support of this now signature event. This also helps the community as the support will keep the fair as vibrant and entertaining as always since the Fair itself receives no taxpayer support from the county.

As you can tell we are looking forward to a great competition and a wonderful public tasting come August. We hope many of you as consumers and wine enthusiasts will take advantage of this chance to try such a huge assortment of wine in one location at one time at this year's North Idaho Wine Rodeo.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the Dinner Party — a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo, and writes frequently for the online version of Coeur d'Alene magazine at www.cdamagazine.com. His articles can also be found on the blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com.