Ramona Vintners Score at County and State Fairs

In May, , who’d recently won “Best of Show Red” honors at the Winemaker International Wine Competition for their 2009 Ramona Ranch Zinfandel. I pointed out that while Ramona Ranch is currently a private label shared with their family and friends, they were in the process of getting bonded to become a commercial operation.

I ended that column by saying, “With their record of achievement so far, I’d say their prospects are good.”

Well, it looks like my powers of observation have been validated even faster than I’d expected. The month of June brought a cluster of new medals for Kerns and Moore.

It started June 18 when the results were announced for the San Diego County Fair’s Homemade Wine Competition. Kerns and Moore garnered four medals, three for wines and one for labels. They won a silver medal for their 2009 Zinfandel, a bronze for their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and another bronze for their 2009 Sangiovese.

Kerns and Moore also won a gold, best of class in the label category for their 2008 Sangiovese. The label for their 2008 Muscat of Alexandria got an honorable mention.

They were on a roll. Within the next few days they got word of results from the Orange County Fair and the California State Fair in Sacramento. At the Orange County Fair Homewine Competition, they won a double gold for their 2009 Zinfandel, a gold for their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and a silver for their 2008 Sangiovese. Their 2009 Muscat also earned an honorable mention.

At the same time, Ramona Ranch won four medals at Orange County in the label category, three golds for their 2009 Muscat of Alexandria, 2008 Sangiovese and 2009 Zin, and a silver for the 2009 Cab.

At the California State Fair Wine Competition in Sacramento Ramona Ranch won a bronze medal for their 2009 Zinfandel. Their 2008 Sangiovese garnered an honorable mention. The Sangiovese also won a double gold in the label category, while labels for the 2009 Zin and 2010 Muscat of Alexandria won silver and bronze, respectively.

“It's a sign that we here at Ramona Ranch are on the right track with our goal to sell wines commercially,” said Teri Kerns.

Kerns, who has been using grapes from other valley growers while she and Moore have built up their own vineyard, emphasized the role the whole wine community has played in Ramona Ranch’s development.

“I must give credit to the RVVA and its senior leadership,” she said, referring to the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association. “Their consistent message has been one of quality and care in the winemaking and of each other. It's an amazing group.”

“The saying that wine is made in the vineyard is so true, and the care taken of the grapes is evident in the quality of the wines we've been able to craft,” said Kerns. “Micole and I greatly appreciate their vision in establishing the Ramona Valley AVA in 2006, and their tireless efforts to pass the boutique winery ordinance earlier this year. Without them, Ramona Valley would not have the bright future it now faces.”

There were other Ramona winemakers who were medal winners in recent competitions as well. I will be covering them in the next column.