Pacific Northwest
Wine Competition

The 7th Annual Bellingham Northwest Wine Competition was another record-breaking event! 103 wineries from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho entered 482 wines in this year’s competition, held over a four-day period that concluded on July 9, 2022. The number of wines easily bested last year’s previous record total of 351 entries.
 

Twenty-six wineries joined the competition for the first time, including Great Northwest Wine Magazine’s 2022 Washington Winery of the Year, Westport Winery Garden Resort; 2022 Washington Winery to Watch, Liberty Lake Wine Cellars; 2022 Oregon Winery of the Year, Chris James Cellars; and multi-Platinum award-winner, Clearwater Canyon Cellars from Idaho.
 

Wineries were rewarded with an amazing and well-deserved 154 Double Gold medals. A Double Gold is achieved when each of the four judges on the tasting panel awards the wine a Gold medal, making it a unanimous choice.
 

Best in Show honors went to the Thurston Wolfe Winery 2021 PGV Pinot Gris-Viognier. Prosser, Washington Owner/Winemaker Dr. Wade Wolfe is no stranger to Best in Show awards; his 2016 Petit Verdot also took top honors in the competition three years ago.
 

Although he’s been making the Pinot Gris-Viognier blend since about 1998, Wolfe says he’s always hesitant to enter it in a competition because the blend (the 2021 vintage was 50/50) usually doesn’t fit neatly into a judging category.
 

But the wine has always been a favorite among consumers. In fact, it’s become so popular Wolfe has steadily expanded his original production of 100 cases to last year’s highest level: 3,500 cases.
 

With the 2021 PGV scored as a “favorite” of this year’s judging panel as well, it becomes the first white wine recognized as an outright Best in Show winner in the Competition’s history. 

In addition to his 98-point Best in Show PGV, Wolfe also received a remarkable six Double Golds and three Golds for his other nine entries.
 

Other notable achievements in the 2022 Competition included a 97-point, Double Gold wine from five individual wineries: Chris James Cellars in Carlton, Oregon, Clearwater Canyon Cellars in Lewiston, Idaho, Bellingham, Washington’s Dynasty Cellars, Red Mountain’s Hedges Family Estate, and Zerba Cellars in Milton-Freewater, Oregon.
 

Several wineries earned multiple Double Gold medals including Chelan Ridge Winery (six), Succession Wines (five), CR Sandidge Wines (four), and Mellisoni Vineyards (four), all from the Lake Chelan area; Westport Winery Garden Resort from Aberdeen, Washington (five); L’atitude 47 from Walla Walla (four), and Chris James Cellars (four).
 

The Whatcom Beer and Wine Foundation is pleased to announce that next year’s 8th Annual Judged Competition will move from Bellingham to Walla Walla and become the Pacific Northwest Wine Competition. The event will continue its tradition of honoring the region’s top wines while raising funds for its designated beneficiaries. More details to follow in the months ahead.