The only wine competition to focus exclusively on wines from California’s North Coast is about to get underway, with some fresh updates this year.
The only wine competition to focus exclusively on wines from California’s North Coast is about to get underway, with numerous updates for 2025.
Hosted by The Press Democrat, the 13th annual North Coast Wine Challenge will kick off April 1, when 34 judges (and three associates) assemble at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds to taste and assess over 1,000 wines over two days.
Comprising winemakers, sommeliers, wine buyers, media and other industry professionals, this year’s judges are all regional, a new move that aligns with the competition’s local focus.
To qualify for the competition, a wine must have been produced with grapes grown primarily in California’s North Coast AVA, which encompasses Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Marin, Lake and Solano counties. The winery must be located in California and the wine labeled to reflect one of the North Coast AVAs.
In previous years, orange wines and nouveau-style (fresh, young) red wines were judged against traditional-style wines of the same varietal. But Daryl Groom, the competition’s chief judge, felt like that was doing them a disservice.
“I felt like the orange and nouveau-style wines were getting a little lost,” he said. “It’s our goal to give all the wines entered the best opportunity to score high, so we added new categories for these styles. We want wineries to feel confident these wines will be judged with passion and fairness.”
Groom also points out that orange wines and nouveau-style reds are gaining significant momentum among consumers. So are nonalcoholic wines, which is another new category for 2025.
“Retailers tell me one of their biggest growth categories is no-alcohol wines, so we decided it was time to add these categories as well,” he said. “I’m not sure we’ll get any entries, as most of these wines aren’t produced in the North Coast. But it’s my hope we can be a leader in providing encouragement and opportunity for local winemakers interested in pursuing this trend.”
Another new addition this year is the Winemaker of the Year award, which will be presented (in the September issue of Sonoma Magazine) to the winemaker with the highest number of gold medals across the competition. That recognition will complement the existing “Best of the Best” award, an honor given to the competition’s highest-rated wine.
Last year, the top prize went to Trentadue Winery’s 2021 La Storia Cuvée 32, an Italian-inspired red blend from Alexander Valley. It also scored Best of Show Red and Best of Sonoma County.
Winemakers who take home Best of Show Sparkling, White, Rosé, Red and Dessert/Late Harvest awards will be featured in a new webinar series hosted by The Press Democrat.
The winning wines
The top winners of the North Coast Wine Challenge will be announced via Facebook Live on Wednesday, April 2. A complete list of the gold and double-gold wines will be published in the The Press Democrat’s Feast section on April 16.
To sample these wines yourself, don’t miss the North Coast Wine & Food Festival on June 14 at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa. Presented by The Press Democrat, the event will offer plenty of food to accompany the winning wines, including plates from Lo & Behold, Goldfinch, Slanted Door, Arandas, Wit & Wisdom and other local restaurants.
For tickets and information, visit northcoastwineandfood.com.
You can reach Staff Writer Sarah Doyle at 707-521-5478 or sarah.doyle@pressdemocrat.com. Follow Sarah on Instagram at @whiskymuse.