Eagles Nest Winery ’s 2008 Picpoul Blanc, 07 Syrah, and 07 Ruby Port garnered Gold, Silver,  and Bronze medals at 20th Annual Grand Harvest International Wine Competition.

The 2010 competition completed Thursday, February 25, 2010. This year marks the 20th consecutive Grand Harvest Awards, with a field of over 1,400 entries from North America, Europe, South America, and the Pacific Rim.

Judges awarded a total of 141 Gold (1 in ten),  426 Silver (less than 1 in three) , and 461 Bronze  (less than 1 in three)  medals in this very competitive event where judges must agree on merit of awarding a medal.

Twenty-four judges evaluated over 1,400 entries.  Garnering medals at the Grand Harvest Awards has traditionally been difficult to achieve because of its high standards of excellence. Wine competitions are invaluable purchasing tools that help consumers choose from over 6,000 wineries in the US alone.

The 2008 White Port-styled Picpoul Blanc Dessert Wine reveals the hallmarks of an Eagles Nest dessert wine – premium varietal flavor extraction and a reserved sweetness.

This Gold Medal winning Port is a light-golden colored with reserved sweetness dessert wine offers appetizing aromas of fresh tropical fruit, juicy peaches, with a back note of lemon-lime. Smooth with a hint of crispness, the white-fruit flavors are refreshing and cleansing with a long finish. Bright and appealing with an appropriate complexity, it’s a first-rate dessert wine.

Artwork:
Eagles Nest Winery white dessert wines are bottled in unique, elegantly slender cobalt -blue colored demi-bottles that feature a custom series of Angel artwork reflecting the “Heavenly” character of these dessert wines.

Our 2007 Private Reserve Syrah Wine exemplifies the hallmarks of a premium Eagles Nest Wine flavorful extraction, balanced tannins, and luxurious color.

This Silver Medal (and Gold) winning 2007 Private Reserve Syrah delivers everything a premium Syrah should and more—bright cherry and raspberry aromas and classic hint of white pepper, silky-smooth mouth feel and long finish.

This is a rich complex wine with layers and layers of blueberry, blackberry and cherry flavors with echoes of coffee and chocolate. This is the kind of wine which is great to drink on its own or with your favorite robust pastas, grilled meats, or BBQ.

A serious, California-style Syrah, it delivers a multi-dimensional wine, a supple rich core framed by integrated smooth tannins and a long caressing finish. The extended oak barrel aging smooths the wine and allows its vivid fruit core to shine through. Drinking great now, but its character will increase even further with bottle aging.

Label Artwork: Custom artwork in our Winery Dog Series depicts Duke our rescue Doberman. Duke is co-owner Julie’s constant companion at the estate. He’s an imposing but well mannered Dobie who keeps an eye on the Baby Doll sheep and patrols the winery and estate on foot and as a passenger in the golf cart or Gator.

Our 2007 Ruby-Port Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Reserve Starboard Desert wine reveals all the hallmarks of a Eagles Nest wine — an opaque black/purple color representative of a classic Ruby Port, an exquisite bouquet of blackberries, creme de cassis, licorice, vanillin and dark chocolate flavors, immense body, opulent texture, spectacular depth, and a wealth of fruit and extract.

This profound Port-styled Ruby Dessert wine drinks well immediately, but can be cellared for many years. Recommended paired with premium chocolate or a fine post dinner cigar.

Label Artwork: Custom artwork depicts the distinctive and luxurious Eagles Nest Vacation Villa (“Cottage”). Located above our Gold Medal winning Syrah estate vineyard, this agritourism venue immerses guests in the wine lifestyle with Italiana  and wine themed decor including fountain, piazza lights and wood fired pizza oven with an expansive view deco overlooking the beautiful west Ramona Valley AVA.

Depicts

More about the Grand Harvest Competition is included in the below press release:

Grand Harvest Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jennifer Merletti

800.535.5670 x105, jmerletti@vwm-online.com

Joe Gargiulo (707.795.9400, joe@jagpublicrelations.com )

2010 Grand Harvest Awards:

Wine Competition Furthers Its Search for Terroir

Santa Rosa, California (March 2, 2010) — Judging for the 2010 Grand Harvest Awards, an international wine competition produced by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine, completed its mission of recognizing outstanding wines from all over the world and simultaneously studying the effects of terroir on wine quality.

Celebrating its 20th year, the Grand Harvest Awards was held February 24-26 at Sonoma Mountain Village, Rohnert Park, California. Complete results are posted at www.vwm-online.com/gha while a related article will be published in the May-June issue of the magazine.

Twenty-four judges evaluated over 1,400 entries and awarded a total of 1,027 medals including 141 gold, 426 silver and 461 bronze. Garnering medals at the Grand Harvest Awards has traditionally been difficult to achieve because of its high standards of excellence. Wine competitions are invaluable purchasing tools that help consumers choose from over 6,000 wineries in the US alone.

Most entries in the Grand Harvest Awards were grown and produced in the United States and Canada with some originating in Australia and New Zealand, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain) and South Africa.

“The Grand Harvest Awards are a great forum for producers to have their wines evaluated by experienced judges in the context of their respective growing regions,” said competition chairman Bill Traverso. “Wines from up-and-coming regions such as Nebraska and Florida garnered gold medals.”

This year’s Grand Harvest Awards presents a new promotional opportunity for wine producers: medal winners will be featured during March via a link on Food & Wine magazine’s one-million-unique-visitors-per-month website (foodandwine.com).

The Judges

Selected for their familiarity with wines from specific growing regions, the judges represent some of the most qualified experts in the industry: food and beverage media, winemakers, wine marketers, enology and viticulture professors and researchers, restaurateurs and sommeliers, hospitality and tourism consultants, and fine wine retailers. Judges included George M. Tabor, author of Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine; Tim McNally, radio host of “The Wine Show”, WIST 690 AM, New Orleans; Eric Degerman, managing editor of Wine Press Northwest; William S. Bloxsom-Carter, executive chef/food and beverage director of Playboy Mansion West; and Jim Trezise, president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation.

The Search for Terroir

The Grand Harvest Awards is the only North American wine competition that presents entries to judges according to regional classification. Wines of particular appellations are arranged in flights (mostly groups of 10) and evaluated by judges who are unaware of the geographic origin or producer, knowing only varietal name when relevant. In contrast, other competitions group wines by varietal name and suggested retail price.

Beyond the determination of medals, the Grand Harvest Awards also recognizes entries that best exemplify the terroir of their respective viticultural areas, and acknowledges the influence of terroir on wine quality. After evaluating each flight, judges frequently discuss their impressions in order to identify the signature elements of terroir and their link to regional typicity (wine characteristics that are common to particular growing regions).

While it is has no scientific definition, terroir is considered to be the combined expression of soil, climate, elevation and topography in the aroma, flavor and tactile sensations of wine beyond clone and rootstock selection, cultural practices, and winemaking techniques.

About the Producer

The Grand Harvest Awards is a division of Vineyard & Winery Services, the publisher of the leading independent wine trade publication Vineyard & Winery Management magazine www.vwm-online.com , Winedex (Wine Industry Index). Based in Santa Rosa, California, the multimedia corporation also produces seminars, conferences and trade shows (Wineries Unlimited, Tasting Room Profitability, Wine Club Summit, and Managing the Winery Laboratory) as well as two other wine competitions (International Eastern Wine Competition, and West Coast Wine Competition).

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Eagles Nest Winery: WSJ – At Wineries Small is Beautiful

by Dennis GrimesMarch 1, 2010

Back in December of 2009 we were so disappointed to hear that Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher were no longer working for the Wall Street Journal and that their long running Tastings Column was no more. We wish them well and await their reemergence in the Wine World better, healthier, and even more successful!
Below is [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery: Beyond the Bottle – The Story behind Fred Franzia and his Two Buck Chuck

by Dennis GrimesFebruary 2, 2010

Love him or hate him, Fred Franzia master of “freeway aged wines” and the convicted felon (wine and grape sourcing violations) is Napa Valley’s and the Wine industry’s gadfly – and – the savior of “ultra value” wine consumers.
In mid 2009, Franzia recently sold the 400,000,000th bottle of Charles Shaw (Two-Buck Chuck), owns 40,000 [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery: Wine Humor – THE BOTTLE OF WINE

by Dennis GrimesJanuary 31, 2010

I’m sharing this excellent wine humor from Tat Perrill one of our dear friends and wine blog members – please share a comment thanking Tat for sharing this gem!  – Dennis
THE BOTTLE OF WINE
For all of us who are married, were married, wish you were married, or wish you weren’t married, this is something to [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery: Enjoying Wine – Red Wine Headaches (RWH) and Sulfites — Myths

by Dennis GrimesJanuary 29, 2010

This is a difficult subject to cover definitively, there have been many articles and studies over the years on this frustrating issue with no solid outcomes, (human) wine lover physiologies are complex, wines are complex, and finally the interaction of the two is complex.

If you are so afflicted and have self banished yourself to [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery: Wine Humor – Alternative wine bottle health statements…

by Dennis GrimesJanuary 28, 2010

Well I must admit, with all the health benefits from moderate, responsible wine consumption documented in a seemingly endless string of studies — that I have gathered and posted to this blogsite elsewhere — I must say I’m annoyed at the overly negative Federal Health Warning statement we must place on every bottle of wine [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery Shares Wine Humor: No Wine Before Its Time – 70’s Orson Wells commercial & its humorous outake – Watch both!

by Dennis GrimesJanuary 27, 2010

Paul Masson Wines – a US 1970’s carafe and jug wine icon, featured actor Orson Wells in their prolific ad campaign.
His distinguished commercials served them well… the outakes didn’t…

Watch a real commercial and then…

The humorous “outtake” when Orson obviously had a bit too much Champagne err… Sparkling Wine…

Kind of reminds you of the alternative wine [...]

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A distraction??? Why a luxury vacation cottage at a winery – aren’t wineries just about wine?!?!

by Dennis GrimesNovember 2, 2008

Shouldn’t wineries focus solely on their wine products? Isn’t it a distraction to farm wine grapes and offer lodging and entertainment venues?

In our view, Yes wineries are about fine wine – great wine is important, and – No there’s a lot more to wine than just what’s in a bottle!

We feel it’s correctly the entire (intimate) winery experience – the vineyards, the winery, the barrel room, the people, the winery equipment, the scenery, the landscaping, the fountains,…

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Decanting Wine – Whats and whys – Vinturi’s, Respirers, Peugeot Tulipes, and Spinwine Pourers

by Dennis GrimesMay 17, 2009

We’ve all heard of decanters, most often seen in high end palatial estates or highbrow homes that feature an expansive bar with scotch or a fine brandy displayed and poured from crystal decanters – never mind the lead leaching our of the lead crystal glass (oops!). Not just for the well-to-do, wine decanters and/or their [...]

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What’s in a (wine) name? Lots, actually…

by Dennis GrimesMay 27, 2009

The European Union continues to put the squeeze on U.S. Wineries exporting to Europe by limiting U.S. Winery naming options and conventions. Terms such as “Clos”, “Chateau”, “Vintage”, “Vintage Character”, “Classic”, and others, are banned.

Wineries with the above terms in their winery names or wine products will have to fight for trademark recognition or change [...]

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“Staycation” Poor Economy & high gas costs encourage close vacations

by Dennis GrimesJune 11, 2009

The uncertainties of today’s economy and rising gas costs are spurring a trend towards short vacations close to home AKA “staycations”. Combine other passions with your visit – golfing, birdwatching, hiking.

We all need a break from the work-a-day life and a short, close vacation is just as beneficial and relaxing as a longer one that [...]

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The “Wine Experience” is a multi-level journey…

by Dennis GrimesJuly 13, 2009

In my humble view, there are many levels of the wonderful “wine experience”
The first level is being knowledgeable of wine and purchasing, sharing, and enjoying retail wines.
The next level is visiting wineries and wine regions and sampling their product, understanding their wine making philosophy, and at least at a superficial level wine making.
The next level [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery & Cottage’s Guest Wine DVD Library

by Dennis GrimesOctober 7, 2009

In keeping with the wine theme of Eagles Nest’s Vacation Cottage we stock the DVD library with selected wine movies and educational wine videos for our GUESTS to give them the opportunity to enjoy the DVDs on the wide screen TV and foster “a wine frame of mind.”
Here are some DVDs in the Eagles [...]

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Videos: Fine wine & fine arts pair at Eagles Nest Winery & Cottage

by Dennis GrimesJuly 20, 2009

Eagles Nest believes the wine lifestyle is to be shared and enjoyed with all.  Our many musically gifted friends are inspired to share their talent  on Eagles Nest’s veranda that overlooks the vineyards and the scenic west Ramona Valley.
The music spans the range from classic Opera to acoustic guitar and everything in between.
We [...]

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Lesser known: Twisted tale – wine tasting canine mascot prefers Tempranillo

by Dennis GrimesJuly 25, 2009

We enjoy visiting the lesser known winery destinations because as Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher Wine writers of  the Wall Street Journal advise… and we know… THAT is where you experience the uniqueness of smaller wineries and the passion of the winery owners and winemakers (often and hopefully one and the same).

The video we’re posting here [...]

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Eagles Nest medalist again! – 2 Gold Medals in Temecula Wine Competition!

by Dennis GrimesJuly 30, 2009

Two San Diego County Wineries won Golds in 2009 Temecula Wine competition – Eagles Nest & Schwaesdall
Eagles Nest Winery (Twitter: @eaglesnestwine, FaceBook http://facebook.com/eaglesnestwine) wins two Gold medals in Temecula Wine Society Competition at July 29th 2009 Awards Dinner benefiting their Oenology Scholarship program. The dinner was hosted at Wiens Family Cellers event center. Other San [...]

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Dessert Wines and Ports… Sweets for the sweetheart

by Dennis GrimesAugust 29, 2009

Premium red and white table (still) wines have a solid place in wine lover’s hearts. They are the daily staple of our wine-loving lives.

The battery acid hole and grime on the sleeve is a good touch n’est pas???
Dessert wines and Port-styled wines have their own special place for special occasions or special times of the [...]

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Ramona wines win more accolades – Twitter Makes good business sense, say Eagles Nest Owners

by adminOctober 9, 2009

By Maureen Robertson
Ramona Sentinel Business News October 8, 2009
Gold Medals went to only three San Diego County wines in the Temecula Wine Society Competition 2009 and they were all from Ramona Wineries.
The three golds went to two Ramona Wineries: Eagles Nest Winery and Schwaesdall Winery.
Dennis and Julie Grimes’ Eagles Nest Winery earned two gold medals, [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery: Fall Wine Camping & RV visit to Paso Robles Wine Country

by Dennis GrimesNovember 12, 2009

We recently rounded up a bunch of wine loving associates and friends to visit the beautiful and relaxing Paso Robles  wine country of Central California. This started up as a Twitter wine “tweetup” event and was renamed a “Twamping” event (Twitter+ camping) – by-the-way we’re currently the #2 winery on Twitter – please follow us [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Ruby Port with Brie, Walnuts, Goat & Gorgonzola Cheese

by Julie GrimesNovember 16, 2009

My girlfriend Lynn Murdock and I made this wonderful appetizer during a fund raiser event we had for the Boys and Girls Club here in San Diego.  We had just finished harvesting our 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and had some fruit still hanging on the vines.
Lynn went out to the vineyard and picked grapes to [...]

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Spinach-Artichoke Nest Cups at Eagles Nest Winery

by Julie GrimesNovember 16, 2009

Eagles Nest Wiery & Cottage offers a wonderful venue to honor and encourage Community Service organizations.  We donate to selected local groups as our service to the community.
Once again, Lynn Murdock and I were busy making  appetizers during a fund raiser event we had for the Ramona Boys and Girls Club here in San Diego [...]

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A NESTed Affair (Gourmet homemade appetizers are a hit at Eagles Nest Winery!!!)

by Julie GrimesNovember 17, 2009

Appetizers & Wine .. A Nested Affair..
Ever wanted to spend a quality evening with your spouse, but have no time to cook?
Here at Eagles Nest Winery & Cottage, we enjoy entertaining our friends & family.  It’s a special way for us to say THANKs for all their hard work.
We also have a number of friends [...]

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Del Mar: 14 March Family Winemakers of California features 200+ wines at trade & consumer tasting

by Dennis GrimesMarch 7, 2010

2nd Annual Family Winemakers Trade and Consumer Tasting in San Diego

Last year’s event was fabulously successful don’t miss this one.
When: Sunday, March 14th
1:00 to 3:00pm, open to trade only
3:00 to 6:00pm, open to the public and the trade
Where: Del Mar Fairgrounds, Exhibit Hall
2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar
How much: Tickets for the public: $45 [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery: Wine Humor – Sharing some Gary Vee and Conan Wine tasting humor video classics

by Dennis GrimesFebruary 6, 2010

This classic from the summer of 2008 is a “hoot” for both aspiring and seasoned wine tasters. Gary Vaynerchuk (we saw him at WBC 2008 in Sonoma) of Wine Library v-blogging fame is in his typical top form, and Conan goes with it…
Video Click Here!
[Sorry the original Conan embed links on youtube.com are no longer [...]

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Eagles Nest Winery: Red, White and Rosé, wine grapes

by Dennis GrimesFebruary 6, 2010

Red wine is made from purple-ish blue wine grapes, white wine is made from green-ish-yellow wine grapes and rosé wines are made from pink-ish winegrapes right?!?!

Photo of red, white and rosé wine grapes
Gotcha!
Those of you who have experienced (endured ? wink!) one of my winemaking talks already know the above photo is a joke (humor!), [...]

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Wine retail find: Tomaresca NePriCa gives other wines the boot!

by adminJanuary 16, 2010

Tomaresca NePriCa gives other wines the boot!
Guest post by Bill Eyer, Cuvee Corner Wine Blog on a Costco find
The Tormaresca 2007 NePriCa Red Blend is what I would call a QPR winner, hands down! The Italians call this their, “way down south wine” because of where the wine comes from is on the heel of [...]

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Troubled Wine Sales on the Web – Site successes & those needing improvement – Comments by Eagles Nest Winery

by Dennis GrimesJanuary 3, 2010

The state of direct wine sales on the Internet has both successes and problems. These are discussed below and I’m sharing an article from the WSJ by the paper’s former fabulous wine columnists Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher on in the subject.

Eagles Nest Winery is located in a bureaucratically challenged San Diego County where [...]

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Fifteen (15) Steps to a Successful Winery Visit

by Dennis GrimesDecember 17, 2009

Sharing a CLASSIC, time-proven list of sage suggestions from two of our favorite wine writers. This list is  sure to make all your future wine tastings visits a huge success!
We recommend you review before, or take this list with you on each wine outing until you have it committed to your wine appreciation routine.

Fifteen Steps [...]

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Wine Lovers, Airport Security, Corkscrews, & TSA Carry-on Wine rules

by Dennis GrimesNovember 27, 2009

During this annual, heaviest travel period of  the year-end  holiday season, and with Thanksgiving as the largest US wine purchase period, my thoughts turn to corkscrews…
What?!?!
Airport Security makes business and pleasure air travel a pain no matter what the purpose, time, or place – especially for wine lovers who prefer traditional cork closures.
Frankly [...]

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NESTed Surprise – Spinach, Goat Cheese & Pepper at Eagles Nest Winery

by Julie GrimesNovember 22, 2009

Appetizers & Wine .. A NESTed Surprise..
Once again, we will be using those wonderful wonton wrappers to create an amazing appetizer!
This is a wonderful, easy appetizer dish your guests will LOVE!
Enjoy! Look forward to hearing your comments!
Ingredients
Makes 18 appetizers

Frozen Pastry Puff – I purchase Pastry Puffs cut to 5″ squares.  Makes it easy!
9 ounce Goat [...]

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