Wakefield Taylors Wines and 1800 Milenio Take Top Honors July 14, 2025 — Winners have been announced in the 18th annual Women’s International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWWSC). The competition, which took place recently in Santa Rosa, Calif., was founded on the premise that the majority of wine purchased for home consumption is bought by women. The IWWSC judging panels consist entirely of professional women in the wine and spirits industries — winemakers, distillers, marketers, buyers, sommeliers, educators and journalists.  This year, Wakefield Taylor Wines 2024 Estate Riesling and 1800 Milenio Extra-Aged Añejo took top honors. Wakefield Taylor, a heritage winery in Australia’s Clare Valley (a region known for quality Reislings), wowed judges with its “mouthwatering citrus blooms” and “gentle salinity.”  A representative from 1800 Mileno remarked, “1800 Milenio is backed by 11 generations of tequila-making e

One of the larger industry trends reflected here at LibDib is the proliferation of craft tequila and mezcal brands. These brands have amazing stories behind them and we love supporting small importers and distilleries. So do our retail, bar and restaurant customers throughout our 15 states.   Here’s a sample of a few of the most amazing craft tequila and mezcal brands: Black Sheep Tequila: For spirits connoisseurs craving a taste for something new, yet extraordinarily steeped in tradition, Black Sheep Tequila provides a line of tequilas produced entirely from the labor-intensive, centuries-old, hands-on process. This tequila is sourced from only the highest-quality 100 percent Weber Blue Agave and is traditionally handcrafted to create the perfect balance of flavors. Additive free, Black Sheep shares clean unique styles of tequila, including the famous Still Strength Aged 15 Year Extra Añejo, Barrel Strength Extra Añejo, Extra Añejo, Añejo, Reposa

🍇 How much do we appreciate feedback from our clients? A ton! 🍇 It was a joy to hear about michael beaulac and Sierra Zeiter's experiences with Admeo, SPICA ⭐ and how it has shaped QC at Foley Family Wines' Rutherford location, Foley Johnson Winery and Merus Wines. Michael Beaulac, Director of Winemaking for Foley Family Wines in Napa Valley:  "I appreciate how fast we get the numbers and how easy the SPICA is to use. I tend to be kind of picky and want my numbers by mid-morning and with SPICA and Sierra, our Assistant Winemaker, she was able to do it with that.  For in-house wine testing, Admeo is the market. We get everything quickly, ranging from numerical results from SPICA to assistance from Admeo’s service team."  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sierra Zeiter, Assistant Winemaker for Foley Johnson and Merus: "SPICA is a fast, reliable, efficient machine that runs a lot of analysis at

JUNE 28, 2024 – Winners have been announced in the 17th annual Women’s International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWWSC). The competition, which took place June 10-12 in Santa Rosa, Calif., was founded on the premise that the majority of wine purchased for home consumption is bought by women. The IWWSC judging panels consist entirely of professional women in the wine and spirits industries — winemakers, distillers, marketers, buyers, sommeliers, educators and journalists.  “As always, the International Women’s Wine & Spirits Competition shined a spotlight on hundreds of deserving wines,” says Debra Del Fiorentino, owner of Wine Competitions Management & Production, which organizes and presents IWWSC. “And even though entry is open to all winemakers regardless of gender, I found it gratifying that six of this year’s sweepstakes wines were created by women. And our overall wine winner also was named Best Woman Winemaker

The weather across California was largely normal through April into early May, perhaps exhibiting a tendency to be slightly erratic, with warm spells of sunshine interspersed by cooler temperatures and some rain. Few if any issues were encountered in the vineyards; the frost risk has now all but passed without notable incident, some frost-prone areas perhaps experiencing limited damage. Budbreak and the early stages of flowering have occurred at a normal timing, perhaps up to three weeks ahead of the lateness seen last year. With some warm periods expected through May, the expectation is that the flowering stage will proceed quicker than last year, when it was greatly protracted by unseasonable coolness. It remains too early to read much into cluster count reports, which have been variable.  A second-consecutive helpfully wet winter means the growing season opens with good soil moisture levels and water reserves, with reservoirs and Sierra Nevada snowpack at or in excess of 100% o

Afternoon Brief, April 30th

Was California’s Wine Revolution Just a Mirage?: A growing chorus of talented winemakers say that the economics of making wine in the state have turned the promise of the “New California” into a cautionary tale...

Afternoon Brief, March 13th

North Coast Wine Industry Cautiously Optimistic as 2024 Grape Season Starts: Wine grape growers and vintners are cautiously optimistic as the 2024 season gets underway for the North Coast crop...

Afternoon Brief, February 29th

TTB Listens to Wine Industry: The TTB wants to hear what the industry thinks about label regulations, so Wine-Searcher's US editor had his say...