SEMO District Fair adds wine contest

Each year at the SEMO District Fair, judges decide who has raised the beefiest heifers, who has grown the sweetest corn, who has a talent for pickling, whose baby is cutest and who has baked an apple pie for the ages.

This year, for the first time, some judges will be required to have a taste for wine.

The establishment of River Ridge Winery in Commerce, Mo., a growing bevy of wineries in Southern Illinois and the opening of a huge new winery near Ste. Genevieve, Mo., convinced the fair board that the time has come to hold a wine competition at the 148th annual fair Sept. 6 to 13 in Cape Girardeau.

"There's getting to be so much interest in wines for consumers, plus there are so many different wineries popping up," said board member Chris Weiss, the competition supervisor.

The fair's first wine competition will be judged Sept. 8. The contest will be open to both commercial and noncommercial winemakers 21 years or older. The wine will be judged in classes for red and white grapes, rose/blush, fruit, vegetable and others, including sparkling wines. The entry fee is $2 per bottle.

Competitions are important to wineries, says Barbara Hand, general manager at Owl Creek Vineyards in Cobden, Ill. The winery's Owl's Leap red wine made from Chambourcin and Norton grapes is a former best of show winner at the Illinois State Fair. The award increased sales. The winery's Framboise, a raspberry dessert wine, was named best of class at the 2002 Illinois State Wine Judging Competition, but better sales have not resulted.

Sales tool

"It all depends on how it's marketed," Hand said.

While a winery may enter contests, wine tastings are a better marketing tool, she said. "Once the customer has tasted the wine, that's the best way of doing sales."

The Missouri State Fair at Sedalia holds an annual wine competition, but it is open only to commercial vintners. The comparable competition in Kansas is open only to noncommercial winemakers. The SEMO District Fair board decided to let both groups go head-to-head in their competition.

Weiss, a Jackson lawyer, recently started making wine himself, a batch of basement Zinfandel made from a kit. He thinks winemaking hobbyists will be interested along with wineries, but doesn't know how many. "We don't know if it will be two or 100."

Bryan Siddle, general manager of the new Crown Point Winery near Ste. Genevieve, expects his winery to enter. "If it's a local one, we want to pat the back of the local people," he said.

The Crown Point Winery has 29 stainless steel tanks that hold 110,000 gallons of wine. Its wines recently won 15 medals at three highly regarded national competitions.

Siddle said wineries could enter hundreds of competitions each year if they cared to, but he is selective.

"It depends on the entry fees and shipping fees," he said. "You can spend a lot of money and product."

A blue ribbon wine will receive a $10 prize at the SEMO District Fair. The overall winner will be awarded a medal.

Judges are still being recruited. Weiss said there are many people in the region knowledgeable enough about wine to be judges.

Information about the competition was sent to members of the Missouri Grape Growers Association and to a similar group in Southern Illinois.

Pre-entry and entry fees must be submitted by Aug. 22. For rules and entry information, write the SEMO District Fair Wine Competition, P.O. Box 234, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0234, call (800) 455-FAIR or go to www.semofair.com.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182