Sips & Swallows

From Around The Amateur Wine Competition

It was a perfect spring day as we got into the car and set our sights for The Equinox in Manchester, Vt, last month. Our mission: Help to judge the over 4,300 wines that had been submitted to WineMaker magazine for its International Amateur Wine Competition.

Needless to say, I would not be able to judge all 4,300 wines by myself. As we assembled into random teams of three, over 40 judges began to taste their way through the bottles of wine that literally filled their own banquet room at The Equinox. Although we started our tasting with bottles of Syrah, the entries covered more territory than one would expect to find in their local wine shop. Wines made from banana, huckleberry, kiwi, melon, chokeberry and peach were only some of the fruits that were represented.

There were also some flights to be judged that were labeled red Native American. These were wines made from grapes that are native to the US, with Concord being the most widely known. I can only say that it is now quite clear to me why our winemaking ancestors relied more heavily on the vinifera wine grapes that were more common in Europe.

The tasting began on a Friday afternoon. Along with our meal breaks, we consumed large quantities of crackers and water to keep our palates fresh. In spite of my best efforts, at around 5 pm Saturday, I hit a wall. I’m not sure if it was the cumulative effect of the wines or slogging my way through the red Native American category.

Thankfully, after a couple of more flights we were finished until Sunday morning (yes, we started at 9 am; do you have a problem with that?). What better wines to close out the judging on a sunny Sunday morning than fruit wines and the sweet dessert wines known as ice wines. Among these “breakfast” wines, we tasted a peach wine that was quite delicious.

Finally, after personally tasting 265 wines over a 48-hour period, we heard the magic words: “This is the last flight.” With a touch of melancholy, everyone who contributed to the largest tasting in the United States shared one final meal and happily sipped on iced tea and lemonade with nary a bottle of wine in sight. 

(Newtown resident and wine enthusiast Steve Small is the general manager at Yankee Wine & Spirits on Queen Street.)