ELLEN ON WINE | by Ellen Landis Wine festivals rebound from the pandemic

Northwest competitions, festivals rebound from pandemic pauses

Many of the wine and culinary celebrations traditionally staged in conjunction with major Northwest wine competitions returned this year, with more on the way in 2023. While the pandemic has prompted the cancellation of Taste Washington the past three years — the Washington State Wine Commission plans to stage it in 2023 — it’s been fascinating and heartwarming to see the adjustments made at several major celebrations.

Among the first was the McMinnville Food and Wine Classic in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The wine competition tied to that public tasting kicks off the judging calendar each year in January — the 2020 competition was conducted prior to the shelter-in-place restrictions — and that early date has served organizers well.

In 2021, the competition was moved to the spacious and inviting Abbey Road Farm near Carlton. Not long after, typically the second weekend in March, wine lovers gather for the public tasting at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville. In 2020, the Mac Classic was canceled, which was unfortunate news for St. James Catholic School.

The budget at the tiny elementary school in downtown McMinnville depends on the competition and the festival, according to wine competition manager Rolland Toevs. Generously, many ticket holders in 2020 agreed to hang on to their tickets, which would be valid when the event could safely be rescheduled.

Few would have predicted the Mac Classic public tasting would again be canceled for the same reason in 2021.

This year, the event returned. Attendance and vendor participation was down slightly from pre-pandemic levels, festival-goers were ecstatic to be back and enjoy food, wine and live music. Organizers still honored those tickets purchased in 2020, so revenue was significantly reduced, but the school benefited by online auctions and a wine pairing dinner at Abbey Road Farm.

In January 2023, the competition is set to return to Abbey Road Farm, and the McMinnville Food and Wine Classic is scheduled for March 2023. Go to McMinnvilleWineAndFood.com.

ELLEN LANDIS

Cannon Beach festival returns this fall

Each spring along Oregon’s Cannon Beach, the SavorNW Wine Awards gathers wines from throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Traditionally, the competition was followed by a remarkable wine and food walk-around event — the Savor Cannon Beach Wine and Culinary Festival — that involved several venues and earned support and funding from sponsors and the City of Cannon Beach Tourism and Arts Fund, according to Gary Hayes, executive director of the SavorNW Wine Awards.

In 2020, there was no festival. Last year, however, the festival was scaled down, offering more intimate wine and culinary events during the month of October. As a result, revenues were off by 80% compared with pre-pandemic levels.

This October, the Savor Cannon Beach Wine and Culinary Festival is back with another series of intimate events. They include Premium Wine Program Thursdays, held at French-inspired Bistro Restaurant from 4-5 p.m. each Thursday in October. It will feature tastings called “The Northwest’s Best Red Blends for 2022” and “SavorNW Wines of the Year for 2022.”

Beginning Sept. 30, there also will be Wine and Art Festival Fridays in the Galleries. These are pre-dinner wine tastings of premium Northwest wines conducted at several Cannon Beach art galleries. Topics include “Lesser Know Varietals Grown in the Northwest” and “SavorNW Best of Class Wines for 2022.”

On Oct. 1, Saturday Wine Experiences will be during the evening at the Wine Shack in Cannon Beach. Among the tastings are “The Pinot Noir Challenge” and “Old World Reds vs. Northwest Reds.” On Sunday, Oct. 23, Seasons Café partners with famed Sokol Blosser Winery on the Seafood Wines and Seafood Pairing Menu.

For more details, go to SavorCannonBeach.com.

Idaho competition leads to Savor Idaho

Despite the pandemic, the collaboration among the Idaho Wine Commission, Great Northwest Wine and the Nederend family allowed for the staging each of the past three years of the Idaho Wine & Cider Competition at Koenig Vineyards.

However, the Idaho Wine Commission’s popular Savor Idaho public festival went on hiatus in 2020 and 2021.

Savor Idaho returned this June, which has been Idaho Wine Month ever since its declaration by then-Gov. Butch Otter in 2009. That was the same year Moya Dolsby, executive director of the Idaho Wine Commission, launched Savor Idaho, and it has found a home across the picturesque grounds of the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise.

This year, the Idaho Wine and Cider Competition was conducted in late May for the first time. Organizers positioned the judging so that Idaho wineries could use the results from the competition in promotions surrounding Savor Idaho and Idaho Wine Month.

Consumers also stand to benefit from the results of the Idaho Wine and Cider Competition. During the month of June, the Idaho Wine Commission offered a “Taste Idaho Gold” special, which featured full and half-case discounts on purchases of wines that earned a gold medal at the competition.

To learn more, go to SavorIdaho.com and IdahoWineCompetition.com.

Beyond the Northwest

It would seem that virtually every festival and wine competition around the world felt the impact of COVID-19, and the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition — North America’s largest judging of wine — is no exception.

The 2020 competition, much like the McMinnville Wine Classic, benefited from being held in January, and Northwest wines have excelled there ever since 2005 when the Chronicle judging began to allow entries outside of California.

Competition directors Bob and Scott Fraser, father and son, have continued to conduct the judging during the pandemic, but they’ve done so using social distancing, safety protocols and relying on judges living in California.

However, the massive public tasting of gold medal winners at Fort Mason in San Francisco has been canceled the past two years. The Frasers expect the festival to return in 2023.

Ellen Landis is a certified sommelier, journalist and wine judge based in St. Petersburg, Fla.