Word on the winners of the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition is spreading like wild fire! A preview tasting for the media last week in Beverly Hills has generated a lot of buzz that we are really excited about! Take a look at some more posts:

http://gastronomy-101.blogspot.com/2009/06/event-la-wine-competition-preview-and.html

http://thirstyinla.com/2009/06/19/2009-la-wine-spirits-competition/

http://lablips.dailyradar.com/story/los_angeles_international_wine_and_spirits_2009/

http://www.womenwine.com/posts/journals/18487-winners-of-the-2009-la-international-wine-competition

Two weeks from today, nearly 100 international wine judges will converge on Fairplex to sniff, swirl and spit their way through more than 3,000 wines - all in attempt to crown the best of the best.

 The Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition begins May 27. Right now, wine staff are busy preparing the thousands of bottles of wine, spirits and extra virgin olive oil for judging, washing thousands of glasses and printing thousands of labels for the blind testing. It’s a huge undertaking, our competition!

Keep checking back to find out the behind-the-scenes buzz. We will also have some special guests blogging their thoughts about the competition, so stay tuned.

And don’t forget the public’s first opportunity to taste the medal winners is June 20 at Wine & Cars Under the Stars - a fun evening of classic wine and classic cars which benefits the foundations at Fairplex.

I know it is only January, but my calendar is already filling up, as is yours I’m sure. So I wanted to remind you of a grand event held here at Fairplex in June – June 20 to be exact. Wine & Cars Under the Stars is an awesome wine, spirits and food event benefiting the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts at Fairplex. It also presents the winners from the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition. This year there will be an extra spark to the evening. Winners from the second annual Wine World of Sports – which features sport celebrities’ wines – will be announced as will the medal recipients of the inaugural Music Uncorked, featuring musicians and their wines.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? It’s always a wonderful evening, filled with some of the top wines and spirits, amazing food, entertainment and always some special treats. Keep checking back for more information or visit the Wine & Cars Web site at www.winecarsstars.com.

Greetings! I am the Wine Novice (so don’t expect to hear a lot of wine tips from me) and I am standing in for the regular wine bloggers this week because they are busy with our annual Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition.

We had nearly 100 international judges tasting nearly 4,000 wines from all over the world. If you want a great insider prospective on the judging, check out this blog (http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/dining/) written by one of our very own judges, Mike Dunne.

The competition ended today, with the judges selecting the top wines of the competition! But I can’t tell you who the winners are–yet. You will have to wait until Saturday, June 14 when the winners will be unveiled at a gala fundraising event, Wine & Cars Under the Stars. 

Let me tell you, for a wine novice like me, I can’t wait to download the results (www.lawinecomp.com) after June 14 and use them to impress my friends.