A record of more than 550 wines were submitted for judging in the annual Pacific Northwest Wine Competition. The four-day contest began Sunday—its first year in Walla Walla after seven years in Bellingham.
The Pacific Northwest Wine Competition was previously called the Bellingham Northwest Wine Competition. The name of the competition was changed following relocation to Walla Walla, though all other elements of the competition remain the same. Walla Walla Community College serves as host to the competition, and the event is held in the college’s Center for Enology & Viticulture—and home to College Cellars.
The competition is open to wineries in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. Wines are blind-tasted over the four-day period and awarded bronze, silver, gold, or double gold (unanimous gold) medals. Commensurate point scores are then awarded by the panel moderator. Wines receiving Gold or Double Gold medals qualify for entry in the Great Northwest Wine Platinum Awards held in October.
The judging panel is comprised of wine industry and industry-related professionals from throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The Pacific Northwest Wine Competition is produced by the Whatcom Beer & Wine Foundation, a federally recognized nonprofit organization. The Whatcom Beer & Wine Foundation will make annual contributions to WWCC’s Center for Enology and Viticulture. WWCC also aims to work closely with the Whatcom Beer & Wine Foundation over the next year to incorporate competitions, judging, wine promotion and more into the academic program’s curriculum.
WWCC’s Center for Enology and Viticulture provides students with hands-on experience in winemaking, viticulture practices, and wine marketing and sales. Students actively participate in vineyard management and the growing of quality wine grapes used to support the state-of-the-art teaching winery called College Cellars, where students are responsible for winemaking and wine chemistry.
For more information about the Pacific Northwest Wine Competition and to view results, visit https://www.pacificnorthwestwinecompetition.com/. To learn more about WWCC’s Enology and Viticulture program, as well as the college’s other academic transfer and workforce programs, visit wwcc.edu; Fall Quarter classes begin September 25.