International Cold Climate Wine Competition 2025
- kmrockstad
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 36 minutes ago
August 26, 2025
Karin Rockstad, Spanish translator, WSET Educator, DipWSET Candidate, SWS, FWS, IWS, Certified Rioja Educator, Certified Advanced Cava Educator, Certified Sherry Wine Specialist, Albariño Ambassador, Sommelier 1
@garbanzo.grrl
The beautiful Minnesota Landscape Arboretum was the site of the International Cold Climate Wine Competition, which is sponsored by the Minnesota Grape and Wine Alliance and the University of Minnesota Grape Breeding and Enology Project.
Over 350 wines from Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, and Ontario were entered and I was one of 21 wine judges along with fellow Vine Lab instructor and Master of Wine candidate, Allison Sheardy and long-time tasting group host, Chris Thomas.
Judging was split into panels of three and Allison, Chris, and I were separated. We taste together regularly and the organizers wanted to ensure that our familiarity would not influence the scoring. I was matched with Josie Boyle, winemaker at Mousse Winery, and Marcus Hanson of Small Lot Wine & Spirits.
Our first two rounds were non-grape, fruit wines. Tasting started at 9:00 am, so it was a great way to start the day! Aronia wine, anyone? (aka, chokecherry) I normally shy away from these kinds of wines, but they were very refreshing and well made. This was an indicator of things to come...
Next, we had a flight of Itasca and then a white blend. As you can see from the photo below, each glass was numbered. We had no idea where it was from or who made it.
Wines were judged on aroma, bouquet, structure, and finish. Each judge scored the wines and made notes on their own sheets and then we tallied up the figures and talked about how we came to our conclusions. At our table, we were pretty consistent in our ratings. There were not a whole lot of cases where we greatly differed, but discussing our different impressions was the best part, as it demonstrates how one person can pick up aromas or flavors that another may only barely be able to perceive. The intensity of these can be off-putting for one person and be hedonistic for another. This is just one of the joys of wine that other beverages do not have and why many of us spend so much time studying and comparing. It's Mother Nature at her finest.
Gold, silver, bronze (and even double gold) medals in 14 categories were awarded based on the agreed-upon score of the judges. The highest scores were then entered in a special honors category of Best in Class. Those wines were re-tasted by 10-12 judges. Best in Show wines (sparkling, red, white, rosé, and dessert) were also re-tasted. A Winery of the Year plaque was awarded to the winery with the highest average scores with a minimum of five wines submitted. The Governor's Cup is a traveling trophy awarded to the best Minnesota wine from any category. Fifteen judges re-tasted these wines and the winner was....
Cannon River Winery's "Shimmer," a sparkling rosé made from 60% Marquette and 40% La Crescent. It was excellent! I was lucky enough to be one of the judges in this category and I was so impressed at how cold climate wines from hybrid grapes keep getting better and better every year. I would proudly serve this bubbly to anyone.
Thank you to the organizers, the volunteers who kept our glasses filled, and to Ben Banks who kept us moving along. Thanks, Arboretum, for hosting us (lunch was delicious!), and to all the wineries across the northern US and Canada for doing what you do.
A link to all the winners can be found here.
