Astoria, Oregon's Wine Competition Wraps Up, Announces Winners

Published 3/27/24 at 4:15 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Astoria, Oregon) – There are winners of all kinds when it comes to the Astoria Warrenton Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival that's coming up in April, and part of that was the wine competition held earlier this month in the north Oregon coast town.

The festival has a sort of season which begins the month prior to its usual date of the last full weekend in April. Kicking things off was the 2024 wine competition, which featured nearly 100 wines submitted by 24 wineries, happening March 16. Entrants were part of the 40 different winery booths that will be at the Astoria Warrenton Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival. Some two-thirds were red wines, according to the Astoria-Warrenton Chamber of Commerce.

“And there were more than two dozen different types of wine present,” the chamber said.

The festival itself happens on April 26-28, at the Clatsop County Fair & Expo in Astoria, Oregon.

Five judges comprised the panel of tasters, together amassing some 30 years of experience in the wine industry as winemakers, sommeliers, educators, buyers and writers.

The chamber said it was looking for diversity in the group, allowing them to evaluate each wine from a different perspective. It included the north Oregon coast's Steven Sinkler of Cannon Beach's The Wine Shack; Patrick McElligott, Chemeketa Community College Winemaking Program Educator; Neil Ferguson, Oregon Wine Board Director of Marketing; Michele Francisco, Oregon Wine Press Editor; and from the Newberg Fred Meyer came wine buyer Cyndi Gierok.

Those red and white wines scoring at the top were brought back to the judges for additional critiques and to come to a consensus on Best of Show.

“The judges individually scored each wine they tasted using a 20-point scale on criteria including appearance, taste, texture, aroma, aftertaste, and overall impression,” the chamber said. “The wineries and identifying information are concealed from the judges during this blind tasting.”

The chamber said this was a very difficult decision to arrive at: Best of Show entailed finding selections for both red and white wines.

“The judges thought each of the wines were excellent examples of their varietal and deserving of their recognition as gold medal winners," the chamber said.

The Astoria Warrenton Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival brings in thousands to the coastal town, often spotlighting local businesses. Yet it is still a regional event, bringing together vendors, wineries, brewers and foodmakers from not just the Oregon coast but the Washington coast and inland areas.

To see the full list of the top wines, visit https://astoriacrabfest.com/wine-competition. The full list of wines will be featured in the event program and medals will be provided to those wineries at the event.

Best of Show for reds was Lolati Wines from Sherwood, Syrah, 2021.

Best of Show for whites was also Lolati Wines, Sauvignon Blanc, 2022.

People’s Choice Award was J. Scott Cellars from Eugene, Albarino, 2022.

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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