Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Takes Top Prize  November 18, 2025 — Winners have been announced in the 2025 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir took the top prize. It was also awarded Best of Show Red Wine and Best of Monterey County AVA. Coming in at 98 points, judges praised the wine as “warm and spicy” with “fig and nutmeg.” Other descriptors included “meaty,” “prosciutto,” and “dried rose petal.”  With entries from across the globe, the Harvest Challenge bases judging on a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions and grapes that combine to give personality to the wine.  In other competitions, this terroir is ignored. At the Harvest Challen

Carefully selected French Oak air dried for an extended period followed by hot water treatment to soften tannins and reduce harshness. Toasting at low temperature limits the development of high notes of spice, smoke, char, ellagic and gallic acid resulting in a profile that is delicate with notes of vanilla and stone fruit, backed with flint, wet stone and a sense of minerality. For use in fermentation or finishing white and red wines.

We are excited to introduce a new stave toast profile, Mineral Toast, designed to bring an enhanced sense of minerality to white and rosé wines. This innovative toast profile significantly impacts the sensory characteristics of wine, influencing its interaction with fruit and other elements during the winemaking process. Minerality in wine is often attributed to specific terroirs, rooted in the soil and environment where grapes are grown. While traditionally linked to the vine’s interaction with soil minerals, minerality can also be shaped by winemaking techniques—including the use of oak. Mineral Toast staves utilize carefully selected French Oak air-dried over an extended period. The wood undergoes hot water treatment to soften tannins and reduce harshness, followed by extended toasting at a lower temperature. The gentle process avoids the formation of high notes such as spice, smoke or char, resulting in a delicate profile featuring hints of vanilla, stone fruit,

Garrison Brothers Distillery and Ledson Winery Take Top Honors  (March 17, 2025) — Winners have been announced in the fourth annual Los Angeles Invitational Wine & Spirits Challenge. A merlot from Ledson Vineyards & Winery (Sonoma County, Calif.) and a small batch bourbon from Garrison Brothers Distillery (Hye, Texas.) topped their fields to be named Best of the Best. The competition was established in 2022, in conjunction with Los Angeles-based beverage professionals (representing both the on- and off-premise channels), to highlight the best of the best wine and spirits producers in the world, and to introduce those producers to the largest market of consumers in the United States. Judging took place February 25-26, 2025. Says event producer Debra Del Fiorentino of Wine Competitions Management & Production, “Year after year, our judges continue to be impressed with the depth in each category. The quality of product was fantastic!” Competition this ye

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

History: TONNELLERIE BILLON SA was founded in 1947 by Gaston BILLON and is located in Beaune Burgundy. The cooperage was purchased by the Damy family to become the sister cooperage of Meursault's Tonnellerie DAMY. Positioned in the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuit's largest city; Beaune, the cooperage has built a strong reputation amongst BurgundToday Tonnellerie Billon annually produces around 10,000 barrels a year and has 2 hectares dedicated for wood seasoning, 2 hectares for barrel production, and a 4,000 square meter shop workshop that employs 20 coopers. The current CEO of the cooperage, Vincent Damy was awarded the prestigious "Meilleur Ouvrier de France" title in 2007 and overseas production at Tonnellerie Billon. y chardonnay and pinot producers.   Today: Tonnellerie Billon annually produces around 10,000 barrels a year and has 2 hectares dedicated for wood seasoning, 2 hectares for barrel production, and a 4,000 square meter shop workshop th

With grapes for sparkling and some whites soon on their way, please see a special focus on the two brothers' Burgundy coopers: TONNELLERIE BILLON SA from Beaune managed by Vincent DAMY, and Tonnellerie Damy from Meursault managed by Jérôme DAMY. When it comes to specific barrels for white wines, the BILLON Select and DAMY Exclusive represent an extremely tight grain selection of Allier and Vosges staves with proprietary toast levels ranging between Light Long, and Medium. Because of the extremely tight grain selection, these barrels work best for longer aging and powerful white wines. When it comes to forest-origin barrels, Allier, Vosges, Jura, and Acacia perform extremely well. Allier is structural-driven and provides grilled bread, brioche, spiciness, and popery aromas. Vosges is more mineral and tension driven and provides floral, chamomile, and honey aromas. Jura is texturally driven and provides fresh alpine aromas. Acacia (not oak) does not have tannin therefore

Good for the Earth & Good for Business To date, we have made significant progress by implementing several initiatives to reduce energy consumption and decrease potential adverse effects on the environment. Among them G3 has: Installed 650 solar panels used at the G3 Campus Saved 5.9 million kWh of energy annually through motion-detecting lights Diverted over 1,000 tons of waste material a year from landfill through well-established recycling programs Learn More G3's commitment to sustainability extends into its products and solutions: PACKAGING Over 50% of cork and capsule shipments use re-useable pallets. Origine by DIAM® cork is made from 100% bio-based products: cork, beeswax emulsion instead of microspheres and a binder composed of 100% vegetable polyols. GTREE™ labels are composed of 100% post-consumer waste (PCW) paper reducing GHG emissions by 100,000 lbs/year. Sierra White™ Paper is FSC® certified to be sourced according to sustainable practices, i