This was my 25th year judging wines at the Florida State Fair International Wine Competition. It was a strange event this year. Now held before the fair begins, it’s always a bit creepy going to the abandoned fairground.
Various factors, mostly organizational, have caused the number of entries to dwindle from a high of 1800 to less than 400 this year. And last minute conflicts and miscommunication reduced the judges panel this year to only 8, down from a high of 21.
Still it’s aways a fun event, and although California wines were almost absent from the slate this year, New York wines made an excellent showing, with a single New York Winery taking two of the top five prizes.
Jeanne Burgess from San Sebastian and Lakeridge swept the Florida categories. Go Jeanne!
Writing about your own travels?
Steve teaches Travel Writing as part of Writing Academy lifelong access: how to find the story in a trip, structure a scene, and make the reader feel like they were there.
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