The 2021 Critics Challenge International Wine & Spirits Competition received over 1000 wine entries that were evaluated by the judges in a blind tasting in San Diego, CA.

A total of 74 wines were designated platinum.

2019 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley: Platinum; 94 points
“Spicy briary black cherry and red plum, olive skin. Really nice. Focused, great melding of oak and fruit. Dusty and fine-tannined, warm, generous, firm but warm tannin.” —Patrick Comiskey

Judges

 Michael Franz, Chief Wine Judge
Michael Franz is Editor of the acclaimed online publication WineReviewOnline.com (1.4 million visitors/year). Michael has been covering the wine scene for more than 20 years, including a long stint as wine columnist at The Washington Post. Michael organizes the annual Wine for Oysters wine competition in Washington, D.C., and is a frequent judge at major wine competitions internationally.

Michael Cervin, Chief Spirits Judge
Michael Cervin is author of 11 books on wine, spirits, and other topics.  As a critic and journalist, his wine and spirits articles have appeared in Robb Report, Forbes, Wine & Spirits,  Vivino, The Hollywood Reporter, Fine Wine & Liquor (China), Decanter (London), Wine Enthusiast, Liquors Magazine (Netherlands), SOMM Journal, Draft, The Tasting Panel, and many other publications.

Michael Apstein is a James Beard Award-winning journalist, and columnist and wine reviewer for WineReviewOnline.com. As a freelance writer, he wrote over 300 wine columns for The Boston Globe newspaper. His writing has also appeared in a variety of U.S., Canadian, and U.K. publications, including Decanter, Decanter Premium, Quench Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Magazine, Wine and Spirits, The Wine News, and The Tasting Panel Magazine. He is a recipient of Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne Press Trophy and is a past nominee for the prestigious Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards. Dr. Apstein judges frequently at international and national wine competitions.

Wayne Belding, MS, has written about wine for over 30 years for local and national publications.  In 1990, he became the 13th American to pass the Master Sommelier Diploma examination, passing all three parts of the exam on his first attempt.  Wayne is a frequent wine reviewer, competition judge and speaker at wine events.  He is a partner at Wine Ring, the leading AI-driven personalization software for the wine and spirits industry – changing the way people discover, evaluate, buy and share wine. He is also the author of “Diving Into Wine,” a guide for wine consumers.

Santa Rosa, Calif., — June 21, 2021—With a record number of entries, the 2021 Sunset International Wine Competition awarded Best Red and Best of Show to a standout blend of Grenache (85%) and Syrah (15%) from Mendocino made by winemaker Miro Tcholakov of Miro Cellars and Trentadue Winery. At $26, this accessible wine exemplifies why blends are so popular with wine consumers. It may prove the perfect Sunset backyard getaway wine, pairing well with everything that brings joy.

To win Best Red of Show, the Miro Cellars Grenache-Syrah Cuvée had to best a field of 14 other reds in the Red Sweepstakes round, including a Trentadue Sangiovese, also made by Tcholakov. In the first round of voting, the Cuvée Sasha had stiff competition from the 2018 Domaine Carneros Estate Pinot Noir with 15 votes, followed by the 2017 Garré Cabernet Franc from Livermore and the 2017 Rapp Ranch Cutter’s Reserve Bordeaux style blend from Napa, both of which earned 11 votes. The Miro Cellars Cuvée Sasha prevailed in final voting, with 18 votes, while the Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir received 8.

In the final sweepstakes round for Best Of Show, the Miro Cellars Cuvée Sasha won handily over the Best White, Best Rosé, and Best Dessert contenders in a landslide, with 20 votes out of a possible 26. The Rosé scored 3, the Sauv Blanc 2 and the Late Harvest Gewürztraminer, 1.

Debra Del Fiorentino, President of Wine Competitions Production & Management (WCP&M), who owns and operates the Sunset International Wine Competition, said, “Once again, we are grateful for the support of the local county Health Department in allowing us to safely run this competition for the past two years. We are also very appreciative of all the wineries that entered wine from all over the globe. This year, there were 52 new wineries participating. We noticed an uptick in entries in both the rosé and unoaked Chardonnay categories, as well as in blends of all kinds.  The judges had some very difficult decisions to make when faced with those final 33 entries!”

• Best of Show and Best of Show Red: 2019 Miro Cellars Cuvée Sasha, (Grenache/Syrah), Chevalier Vineyard, Mendocino, $25, 97pts

The OC Fair’s competition is the largest and most comprehensive judging of California wines in the world. The competition attempts to judge every grape wine made in California that is commercially available in Orange County. All wines were judged by professional winemakers and/or winery principals.