The 2008 L.A. County Fair Gold Medal Tasting Bar offered more 300 gold medal winning wines. All types of varietals, from bone dry to very sweet and from very affordable to very expensive joined the line-up. These wines were selected from 3,523 wine entries judged by 75 international wine judges during the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to work the Gold Medal Tasting Bars during the Fair because we offer several wines that people usually do not have the opportunity to taste such as international wines or varietals that are new to them. We also serve a wide variety of guests from novice to very experienced wine drinkers (note: only 12% of wine drinkers

consider themselves knowledgeable, according to one source). It’s fun to discover new wines and share your passion and love of wine and wine experiences with other people. We also learn from our Fairguests and there is a “buzz” about which wine is the best. This year we served more than 50,000 tastes. Listed below are Fairguests’ favorites – we couldn’t keep these wines in stock.

1. Borgo Maragliano, Sparkling Wines, Moscato D’Asti, La Caliera DOCG 2007
Gentle effervescence, fragrant and lightly sweet, almost like candy, long finish, nicely balanced. Everyone loved this wine from Piedmont, Italy. unpopazzo.com

2. Cantina St. Paul’s, Pinot Bianco, Exclusiv Plotzner, Alto Adige DOC, 2007
Exhibits characteristics of apples and honey with strong minerality. It’s a lovely wine with lingering flavors, a nice surprise from the very beautiful Alto Adige in North Italy.
tesoriwines.com

3. San Simeon, Chardonnay, Monterey, 2005
Nicely balanced with hints of citrus, green apple, pear,  and vanilla and oak on the finish.
sanantoniowinery.com

4. Frank Family Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2004
Very elegant, juicy blackberries, dried black cherries, toasted caramel and choclate on the finish. frankfamilyvineyards.com

5. Summerland Winery, Pinot Noir, Monterey County, 2006
Lighter style Pinot Noir, silky texture with fresh Bing cherries and vanilla and spice on the finish.
summerlandwine.com

6. Clos du Bois, Merlot, Reserve, Alexander Valley, 2005
Aromas of violets with flavors of black cherries and plums and a lingering chocolate finish.
closdubois.com