Morgan Wins Best of Monterey at 32nd Annual Monterey Wine Competition

March 11, 2025 – Driving to King City this year was a breeze compared to last year, when heavy rains had created some exciting alterations to the Salinas River. Green hills, clear blue skies, wildflowers just beginning to appear and a gentle breeze made the trek to the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds a pleasant one.

The field of more than 455 entries was strong, and the Platinum table was  graced with some different brand names this year. Morgan had not entered this competition before, and they were able to best all other Monterey entries to take Best of Monterey for the 2023 Morgan Double L Vineyard Riesling. This enticing wine, from an organically farmed vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands, exhibits definitive aromatics and flavors of zesty orange. It represents a middle of the road style that balances acidity nicely with sweet fruit. A perfect pair with Asian fare like crab stuffed spring rolls. 

We declared the 2023 Navarro Anderson Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Cuvée 128, Best White, while Best Red went to the 2023 Eberle Cotes du Robles GSM blend, Paso Robles. 

As usual, Navarro just nails everything they do, including the 2023 Mendocino Barbera, infused with strawberry, cherry and basil, for which they won a Best of Class. Gorgeous in the glass, it displays exotic floral notes, along with a sniff of white pepper. Once again Jim Klein has created a gorgeous and fleshy wine without compromising fluidity. It exhibits flawless flow with gravitas and wonderfully managed tannins, which is no easy feat with Barbera, often a tannic monster with an acidic and acerbic attitude. They also scored Platinum for their 2024 Rosé of Pinot Noir.

I loved the Eberle Cotes du Robles Rhone blend, for its gorgeous color and transparency, its aromas of sweet strawberry soda, clove, blackberry and ginger. Juicy marionberry grabs the throat, along with broiled grapefruit and baked blackberry pie. Complex and well knit, with serious depth and intention, this wine feels purposeful and intentional, and accomplished its intended goal, which is extreme deliciousness. 

Import Wine of the Year went to a menthol- and pepper-edged 2023 Wakefield Jaraman Shiraz from McLaren Vale. This wine was arresting for its decidedly eucalyptus infused aromas, its spunky flavors of plum, BBQ meat, black salty licorice and its utterly phenomenal texture. Everyone who tasted it later at the judge’s dinner did that OMG thing with their eyes and set their glass down with assertive appreciation. Dang! That thing has power!

One would hope there would be great Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs coming out of this competition. I still hope for more next year. Integrity, out of Watsonville, scored Platinum for its 2021 Integrity SLH Pinot Noir (Tondre Grapefield), a wine which deservedly scored 95 points. Its pretty transparency, combined with aromas of coastal weeds and a salty, ocean influence, made this wine intriguing. On the palate, licorice, leafy greens, tomato, basil and olives combined for the perfect compote of fruit and savory. Seriously meaty and delicious, it exhibits great depth and a peppery edge, with a very assertive finish that delivers the satisfying warmth of a perfect bonfire. This is my kind of wine. The 2022 Integrity Riesling (SLH) scored Gold. 

Also on the Platinum table, with 95 points, was the 2022 CRU SLH Pinot Noir, from the Smith & Lindley Vineyard, a brighter and lighter style, with a pretty color leaning to brick red. Again, I thought it had definitive coastal influence, with a core of cran-raspberry and cherry fruit, with a pleasing hint of spearmint, which might come from whole cluster. I found it fresh and enjoyable, with an attractive cherry finish. The 2022 CRU SLH Chardonnay and the 2023 CRU Unoaked Chardonnay both scored Gold. 

J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines was well represented on both the Platinum and Gold medal tables, with beautiful white wines made by Kristen Barnhisel, who crafts the whites, and reds made by Brenden Wood. The 2023 J. Lohr Wildflower Valdigue once again thrilled with its bright and crunchy red fruit and exuberant, happy nature. This wine is only $12.99 and punched way above its weight. J. Lohr also scored Platinums for their 2022 South Ridge Syrah (Paso Robles), 2022 Home Ranch Petit Verdot and for the 2023 Gesture Viognier, Paso Robles.  

One of the most intriguing Platinum wines for me was the 2022 Presque Isle Lake Erie Blaufrankish from Eastern Pennsylvania. With a racy low alcohol of 12.7%, it exhibited classic orange baby aspirin aromas, along with some nice leafy tobacco. Done in a modern style, it echoes old world sentiment. I loved the puckery and fresh orange and mandarin flavors with an elderberry finish. It’s very chewy and grippy: perhaps it was trying to channel Austria. 

This winery, Presque Isle, also had an incredibly delicious Blended Red Hybrid called Freeport Red, on the Platinum table. This wine channels the East Coast with its raucous and unmistakable almond, red cherry-ness of its Chambourcin grapes, combined with 30% Cabernet Franc and 30% Dornfelder. Wildly edgy and juicy, this is the kind of spicy, peppery and palate tingling that endears me to native grapes. As head judge Rich Cook said to me, don’t be afraid to explore East Coast wines: they’re not all a foxy mess. 

Speaking of edgy wines, the Platinum-winning 2021 Belle Fiore Teroldego from the Rogue Valley of Oregon was compelling for its smoky spicy, leather, herbal, earthy, and beef sausage aromas.  Chewy and meaty, with blueberry, cedar, rosemary and mustard, we agreed that beef hot dogs or bratwurst would be a good pairing. 

Speaking of Oregon, if you love Grüner Veltliner, Reustle Prayer Rock (Umpqua, OR), has a panoply of styles, including one done in Austrian cask. The 2023 Schneckenleitner Cask 2 Grüner Veltliner, done in a large Austrian oval, won Platinum. Its texture was nicely broadened by the oak, but I actually preferred the cleaner versions they submitted. They were all solid and worth exploring. 

Newcomer 3P Winery scored Gold for their 2023 3P Estate Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains. 

Diora scored Golds for the 2022 La Petite Grace Pinot Noir and the 2023 La Splendeur du Soleil Chardonnay, both from Monterey. 

JL Wood scored Gold for their 2023 Classic Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco, as did Scheid for their 2022 Hames Valley Petit Verdot. 

Furthermore scored Golds for both their 2022 Rosella’s Pinot Noir and their 2022 Bien Nacido Pinot Noir. 

Congratulations to all the medal winners!

We also got to try two rather interesting zero alcohol sparklings from Bolle, an imported wine made from French fruit using German technology. The Bolle Blanc de Blancs actually smells like something you would feed to a horse, or perhaps it is more polite to say it smells like Cheerios.  Or the Cheerios box. Surprisingly, and rather pleasantly, it tastes like Martinelli’s, as if it were made from Macintosh apples and quince, instead of grapes. Actually, I found it pretty nice, and overall it offers decent drinkability, with a pleasing texture and decent bubble factor. The Bolle Brut Rose was very pale pink, and smelled again like breakfast, only this time it was Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms. The dried strawberry fruit and flavors of guava, mango and bruised apples, gave this a distinctive edge on the fun factor. Both run about $30. 

Head judge Rich Cook told me he was actually driving and drinking with his family on Valentine’s Day, from San Diego to a theater in Burbank for a concert. All four were openly drinking zero alcohol Bolle Rose Bubbly from acrylic flutes. He wondered what would have happened had he been pulled over.  Apparently, the technology enables them to strip the alcohol and yet leave the wine-ish flavor. It’s worth a splurge for someone who cannot drink alcohol, otherwise, just pop the Martinelli’s.