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Wine Judging | Friday Night Seminar | Saturday Seminar | Public Tasting
History
The Tri-Cities Wine Festival began in 1979 as a fundraiser for a new copier for the Tri-Cities Visitor & Convention Bureau. However, it was also envisioned as a vehicle for promoting Northwest wines, and the Tri-Cities as a tourist destination. The festival was held in July during Water follies weekend at the Hanford House Thunderbird hotel in Richland. Modeled after the Seattle Wine Festival, the event featured over 40 wines from 13 Northwest wineries. The only advertising was a sandwich board in front of the hotel.
In 1990 the Tri-Cities Wine Society assumed sponsorship. Through the help of several area supporters, the Society received enough seed money to continue the festival. The festival has continued each year, and as the Pacific Northwest wine industry has grown and changed, so has the festival.
For a detailed history of the festival, click here.
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Wine Judging
Wines are entered in the Tri-Cities Wine Festival from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia wineries.
Thursday and Friday prior to the public tasting, a panel of five well qualified wine judges sample all the entries. These judges are drawn from an experienced pool of candidates from the United States and sometimes worldwide. Past judges have included well recognized wine writers for major publications, sommeliers, wine distributors or buyers for major chains, Masters of Wine, winemakers or wine educators. Many have had extensive judging experience at such prestigious events as the Los Angeles County Wine Competition, the Dallas Wine Fair and international competitions.
For the first time, the Tri-Cities Wine Festival will be at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick. This new venue will provide the space for more wineries to showcase Northwest wines and for the festival to grow and expand. In previous years, up to 350 wines were entered into competition by up to 80 wineries. The Convention Center will permit these numbers to be expanded.
As in the past, judging is to be conducted under strict and exacting guidelines. Double blind standards insure an objective and unbiased examination of all entered wines. We follow the Wine Institute’s guidelines for objective competitions. Bronze, silver and gold medals are awarded, plus a Best of Show award. The judges are told only the year and the category of each wine, and in some cases the residual sugar (when relevant). The wines are randomized within each tasting round — or “flight” as they are called — to assure that neither alphabetical order nor entry order can be a revealing factor. Flights are limited to no more than 20-24 wines. Should entries exceed that number (as in popular varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot), pass/fail flights first eliminate non-medal contenders. Wines that pass this round then go into a final flight for possible medal winners. Best of Show is selected from among the gold medal winners.
More info about this year’s Judges
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Friday Night Seminar
Pairing of gourmet cuisine and fine Northwest wines will be the topic. The seminar will focus of the selection of wines that complement "fine foods" or those occasional and more elegant dishes you might serve to impress your guests. This 6-course education will start with an array of passed hors d'oeuvres and end with an elegant Belgian chocolate dessert. And although the wine selections are still being finalized, the preliminary reviews promise an extraordinary palate experience.
Tickets for the Friday event will be available through Ticketmaster and the Toyota Center Box Office at the Toyota Center, which is next to the Convention Center, beginning August 26.
More info about this year’s Friday Night Seminar
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Saturday Seminars
Multiple seminars are scheduled for Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon. These seminars are being kept simple and inexpensive to encourage attendance. Seminars have been selected to appeal to a range of individual desires and each will be guided by experts in the given topic. Check out the list of seminars at the link below.
Tickets for seminars will be available through Ticketmaster and the Toyota Center Box Office at the Toyota Center, which is next to the Convention Center, beginning August 26.
More info about this year’s Seminars
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Public Tasting and Silent Auction
"Saturday night, starting at 6:30 PM and lasting until 9:30 PM, the Three Rivers Convention Center Great Hall will be a fabulous concentration of Northwest Wines. Over 100 wineries are expected to be pouring samples of more than 300 wines. During the evening, the award winners are announced in a festive display marking the winning wines with medals and the positioning of balloons to signal where the bronze, silver and gold medals can be found. Finally, the much anticipated Best of Show Award is presented to the wine deemed by the judges to best represent the finest example of craftsmanship and style.
At this time the silent auction also takes place featuring many one time opportunities for wines and wine-related arts and gifts. Part of the proceeds from the silent auction are earmarked to support the Tri-Cities Wine Society educational fund through the Washington Wine Foundation.
More info about this year’s Public Tasting
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