Anyela’s Vineyards, Skaneateles’ sole winery, has won more than one dozen medals at two international wine competitions in the past month.
At the Eastern International Wine Competition in California, Anyela’s won six medals out of six wines it submitted, including a gold for its semi-dry Reisling. At the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition in Rochester, Anyela’s won eight medals out of eight wines it submitted.
“We did pretty good,” said Jim Nocek, owner and winemaker at Anyela’s. “A lot of times these things can be fickle on results. What you think is a great wine may not come out how you expect. So we’re very happy.”
Anyela’s Vineyards, located at 2433 W. Lake Road, is a young winery, having only started its production in 2005 and its distribution of wines three years later. Yet since 2008, the winery has won dozens of medals from competitions across the U.S.
The most recent awards have continued this winning trend in Anyela’s winemaking quality and popularity.
At the 36th Annual International Eastern Wine Competition and Riesling Championship in California, March 5 through 7, Anyela’s picked up six medals: gold for its 2010 semi-dry Riesling; silver for its 2010 dry Reisling, 2010 Pinot Gris, 2008 Cabernet Franc and 2008 Noiret; and bronze for its 2009 Cayuga White.
The IEWC is one of the oldest and largest professional wine competitions in the United States. Wines were judged by some of the most experienced professionals in the wine industry from a field of over 800 entries.
At the 12th annual Finger Lakes International Wine Competition in Rochester, March 24 through 25, Anyela’s earned eight medals against a field of 3,200 wines entered from 788 wineries in 22 countries and all 50 states.
The competition was judged by 64 of the world’s top judges, representing distributors, educators, enologists, sommeliers, restaurateurs, winemakers and writers. Each wine was judged on its own merit — its presence, balance and varietal character. All judging was single blind tasting and awarded on four levels of excellence: Double Gold (unanimous panel vote), Gold, Silver and Bronze.
Anyela’s won silver medals for its 2010 Pinot Gris, 2008 Pinot Noir and 2007 Sync (a red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz); and bronze medals for its 2010 Avail (a white blend of Riesling, Chardonnay and Cayuga White), 2008 Cabernet Franc, 2010 Dry Reisling, non-vintage Cuvee Blanc-Sevyl Blanc-Chardonnay blend, and a non-vintage Overlay Verse 4 (a red blend of Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon).
“We’re very happy everything we entered picked up something,” Noceck said. “It was a good representation.”
The Finger Lakes International Wine Competition is the largest charitable wine competition in North America. All net proceeds benefit Camp Good Days and Special Times.
Anyela’s wines, along with the other medal-winning wines from the competition, will be featured at several public events following the competition, including the annual wine auction dinner on Saturday, May 5, to benefit Camp Good Days and Special Times, which attracts nearly 1,000 wine aficionados and collectors.
Anyela’s will enter at least one more wine competition this year, Nocek said. “You want to do competitions because it’s nice to get your name out there, but we do pick and choose what we enter because it can get expensive,” he said. “It is nice to see as a regional winery you are receiving international attention.”
For more information on Anyela’s Vineyards, visit their website, anyelasvoneyards.com.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
