2024 Governor’s Cup Wine Collection Winners Announced (AgClips)
Staff
September 10, 2024
Competition included 302 wine submissions from 52 Colorado wineries
BROOMFIELD, Colo. — The Colorado Wine Industry Development Board (CWIDB), part of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, proudly announces the 14 wines selected to represent the Colorado wine industry as the 2024 Governor’s Cup Wine Collection. This year’s competition included 302 wine submissions from 52 Colorado wineries.
The Best of Show winner will be announced during the annual Colorado Uncorked event on November 1, at The History Colorado Center. This event will be the only opportunity for the public to try all of the award-winning wines at the same time.
“This group of 14 wines shows an outstanding array of styles and varieties, and as always, extremely high quality,” said Kyle Schlachter, executive director of the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. “Each year, the Governor’s Cup competition highlights the high quality and consistently great taste of the wines produced in Colorado. Any wine drinker can find something they love produced right here in our home state. Congratulations to all our participating wineries!”
The competition is judged through a blind tasting, meaning that judges only know the grape variety or category of a wine and the vintage, but not the producer or any other identifying information. The panel was made up of Colorado sommeliers and wine professionals, as well as highly acclaimed wine writers and wine experts from around the country who traveled to Denver to sit on this year’s 15-person judging panel.
Notable returning judges included Doug Frost, Master of Wine and Master Sommelier; Zach Lewison, Sommelier at Sonnenalp in Vail; and Jenne Baldwin-Eaton, Founding Director of the Warren Winiarski/Gerald Ivancie Institute of Viticulture and Enology at CMU Tech in Grand Junction. New notable judges on this year’s panel include Erin Rasmussen, winemaker at The American Wine Project in Wisconsin, Tonya Pitts, Wine Director at One Market Restaurant in San Francisco and 2022 Wine Enthusiast Sommelier of the Year; and Patrick Comiskey, Senior Wine Correspondent for Wine & Spirits Magazine. The full list of judges can be found at ColoradoWine.com/governors-cup.
“I have judged at every Governor’s Cup competition since 2018 and the continued increase in wine quality was very clear this year,” said Wayne Belding, Colorado’s first Master Sommelier. “We, as judges, had a difficult task of selecting only 12 wines for the Collection – hence there are 14 wines! I’m excited to watch the Colorado wine industry grow and I think Colorado consumers are fortunate to have such amazing local wines at their fingertips. Those who seek them out will find great variety and high quality.”
The CWIDB uses the Governor’s Cup Collection to represent Colorado at marketing events, industry shows, and through other opportunities in the state and across the country. The award-winning wines will also be used for educational purposes at Colorado winemaker roundtable discussions to recognize and improve the overall quality of Colorado wines.
Anyone of drinking age can taste all 14 wines at the Colorado Uncorked event, which pairs the winning wines with small bites from some of Colorado’s finest chefs.
Tickets for Colorado Uncorked are $75 for General Admission and $145 for the VIP experience and can be purchased at Coloradowine.com. Early Bird General Admission tickets will be available for $65 through September 30. The VIP experience includes early entry, access to the VIP-only area, and additional samples of library wines along with more food options. Complete information can be found at Uncorked – Colorado Wine.
Of the 14 wines selected, six wineries repeat the distinction of being in the Governor’s Cup Collection from the 2023 Governor’s Cup Collection. They join three wineries recognized in previous years’ Collections, as well as one winery, The OBC Wine Project, honored for the very first time.
2024 Colorado Governor’s Cup Collection
- Alfred Eames Cellars (Paonia)
— 2019 Collage (Red Blend), Colorado
— 2019 Sangre del Sol (Red Blend), Colorado - Carboy Winery (Littleton, Denver, Breckenridge, and Palisade)
— 2021 Chambourcin, Grand Valley AVA - Fox Fire Farms (Ignacio)
— 2023 Fox Fire Red (Corot Noir), Colorado - OBC Wine Project (Fort Collins)
— 2023 Colorado Red (Red Blend), Grand Valley AVA - Restoration Vineyards (Palisade)
— 2023 Gewürztraminer, Grand Valley AVA - Sauvage Spectrum (Palisade)
— 2023 Teroldego, Grand Valley AVA
— Bodega Dessert Wine, Grand Valley AVA - Snowy Peaks Winery (Estes Park)
— 2023 Albariño, Grand Valley AVA
— 2022 Cabernet Franc, Grand Valley AVA - The Peachfork (Palisade)
— Sarge‘s Sweet Red Blend, Grand Valley AVA - The Storm Cellar (Hotchkiss)
— 2023 Rosé of Pinot Noir, Colorado
— 2023 Sauvignon Blanc, Grand Valley AVA - Whitewater Hill Vineyards (Grand Junction)
— 2023 Moscato, Grand Valley AVA