Montelle Winery, on the hills to the east of Augusta, won the Governor’s Cup as the best Missouri wine of 2008, duplicating the winery’s triumph of 2007, and it’s a tribute to Clayton Byers, a founder, to Bob and Judy Slifer, long-time owners, and to Tony Kooyumjian, current owner and winemaker, for being good stewards of the vineyards over nearly a half-century, Byers, a successful St. Louis public relations practitioner, dreamed of retiring to be a country winemaker, and when Lucian Dressel got Mount Pleasant up and rolling, Byers became a neighbor and competitor at Montelle.
Kooyumjian, who has won four Governor’s Cups in the last five years, has owned the Augusta Winery (twice a winner) for many years, and expanded to include Montelle a few years ago.
Kooyumjian’s winner was his 2007 Dry Vignoles, which also won best of class among dry white wines. The 10 best-of-class winners then competed for the cup.
"The grape has been good to me," he said. "The first Governor’s Cup that I won, back in 1991, also was a Dry Vignoles." Kooyumjian won other gold medals for his ‘07 Chambourcin, ‘06 Chardonel, River Country red and white, and his peach brandy.
Oddly, in a new medal category this year, for "Best Missouri Varietal," the ‘07 Vignoles from Stone Hill, in a sweet white wine category, was rated above the Vignoles from Montelle.
Best of Class winners were: Sparkling, Stone Hill Golden Spumante; Dry White, Montelle 2007 Vignoles; Semi-dry White, Augusta Winery Seyval Blanc; Sweet White, Stone Hill 2007 Vignoles; Dry Red, Blumenhof 2006 Cynthiana; Semi-Dry Red, Montelle River Country Red; Sweet Red, Augusta River Valley Red; Late Harvest-Ice Wine, Augusta 2007 Icewine; Dessert/Fortified, Stone Hill 2005 Port; Distilled Product, Montelle Peach Brandy.
Medal inflation, similar to grade inflation in schools and colleges, continues to lessen the value of a medal, and I think the standards are too low. Of 228 entries, 61 percent, or 139, won medals, not counting the 10 Best of Class winners and the seven Best Varietal medals, or ribbons, or whatever they get. If you like to count medals, and have felt depressed since the Olympic counting competition ended, Stone Hill won the most, with 31 (9 gold, 12 silver, 10 bronze). Augusta and its sister winery, Montelle, each took home 18 (4 gold, 7 silver, 7 bronze for Augusta), (6 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze for Montelle). St. James and Mount Pleasant each won a pair of gold medals, and Blumenhof, Les Bourgeois and Sugar Creek earned one apiece.
Medal winners were: Adam Puchta Winery (Hermann), 4S, 8B; Augusta Winery (Augusta), 4G, 7S, 7B; Baltimore Bend Vineyard (Waverly), 3S, 2B; Blumenhof Vineyards and Winery (Dutzow), 1G, 1S, 1B; Cave Vineyard (Ste. Genevieve), 1S, 2B; Chaumette Vineyards (Ste. Genevieve), 1S, 2B; Cooper’s Oak Winery (Higbee), 1B; Durso Hills Winery (Marquand), 1S, 1B; Jowler Creek Winery (Platte City), 1B; Les Bourgeois Vineyards (Rocheport), 1G, 5S, 4B; Meramec Vineyards (St. James), 2B; Montelle Winery (6G, 6S, 6B); Mount Pleasant Winery (2G, 3B); Native Stone Winery (Jefferson City), 1S; Peaceful Bend Vineyard (Steelville), 2S, 2B; River Ridge Winery (Commerce), 1S, 3B; St. James Winery (St. James), 2G; 7B; Stone Hill Winery (Hermann), 9G, 12S, 10B; Stonehaus Farms Winery (Lee’s Summit), 1S; Sugar Creek Winery (Defiance), 1G, 1S; Tower Rock Winery (Altenberg), 1B; Traver Home Winery (Willow Springs), 1B; Westphalia Vineyards (Westphalia), 2B.
Judges were Joyce Angelos, Kansas City; Glenn Bardgett, St. Louis; Jill Blume, Purdue, Ind.; Jeanne Burgess, Clermont, Fla.; Bob Foster, San Diego; Doug Frost, Kansas City; Michelle Meyer, Basehor, Kan., Bob Mueller, New Haven, Mo.; Ray Pompilio, Ithaca, N.Y.; Chris Stamp, Watkins Glen, N.Y. and Patricia Wamhoff, St. Louis.
* * * *
NEWS AND NOTES: The Norton Festival comes up Saturday and Sunday at the Missouri History Museum, with samples of Missouri’s finest red wine poured by a number of wineries from around the state. Though some winemakers still call the grape – and the wine — Cynthiana, it has been ascertained through various scientific experiments that the grapes are one and the same.
Patty Held has left Stone Hill Winery, where she was a part of the management family practically her entire life. Her parents, Jim and Betty, with assistance from their sons, Jon and Thomas, and from Patty, built Stone Hill from an abandoned mushroom cellar to the state’s largest winery. Experienced in all forms of wine-making and a regular judge at wine competitions around the country, she plans to remain in the industry as a consultant. She is scheduled to be at the Norton celebration.
–Joe