In response to steps county officials are taking to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, the North Coast Wine Challenge has been postponed. However, organizers are still accepting entries at pdncwc.com.

Past contests have drawn more than 1,000 entries from across the North Bay — Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Marin, Lake and Solano counties. And winemakers whose bottles have risen to the top to claim the Best of the Best title have seen their wins echo in unexpected ways.

The contest is now in its eighth year. Organizers hope judging will take place in May. The gold medal-winners will be invited to pour at the North Coast Wine & Food Festival. Hosted by the Press Democrat, the event is planned to be held at a new venue this year –– Santa Rosa’s Luther Burbank Center for the Arts.

Only once, in 2018, has an entry scored a perfect 100 out of 100 points in the Wine Challenge — the Kokomo 2016 Gopher Hills Block, Peters Vineyard, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.

“The win put us in a different category,” said Kokomo Winery co-owner and winemaker Erik Miller. A far-reaching media response followed, all the way back to Miller’s hometown in Indiana. At the winery, the winning wine sold out in three days.

Last year, after St. Francis Winery’s 2016 Tres Viejos, Sonoma County, Old Vines Zinfandel was declared the Best of the Best with 99 points, the winery also saw demand jump and supply eventually run out.

For the 2017 winner, Taft Street, which scored 98 points with its 2016 Russian River Valley Rosé of Pinot Noir, the win brought more visitors to their tasting room. It also was a reward in itself.

Read the full article: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/10787985-181/past-winners-of-the-north?artslide=5&sba=AAS