August 6th, 2007
The coveted Governor’s Cup, an award given to Missouri’s best wine, was presented to the Augusta Winery for their 2004 Estate Bottled Chambourcin at an industry picnic on August 2nd at Holts Summit, Mo.
The annual competition spotlights Missouri’s best wines by category, including reds and whites from dry to sweet, dessert/fortified wine, sparkling wine and late harvest/ice wine. On July 12 and 13 of this year, 258 wines were judged by 7 national judges at the Missouri Wine Competition to determine the medal winners. This year, 197 medals were presented, which included 29 gold, 79 silver and 89 bronze awards. From that contest, nine Best of Category winners and the Governor’s Cup recipient were selected.
Tony Kooyumjian, president of the Augusta Wine Company, accepted the Governor’s Cup award from Matt Boatwright, Assistant Director of Agriculture. Besides the Governor’s Cup, Mr. Kooyumjian, who also owns the Montelle Winery, walked away with the Best of Class Dry Red and Best Chambourcin for the Augusta Winery 2004 Chambourcin, the Best of Class Semi-Dry Red for the Augusta Winery Reserve Red, the Best of Class Distilled Product for the Montelle Winery Apple Brandy, the Best Norton for the Augusta Winery 2004 Estate Bottled Norton, the Best Vidal Blanc for the 2006 Estate Bottled Vidal Blanc, 12 golds, 22 silvers, and 9 bronze medals.
During his acceptance, Mr. Kooyumjian noted that, “This is a very exciting year with this being the first time that a Chambourcin has won the Governor’s Cup. Chambourcin is a grape that, up until this point, hasn’t been recognized for it’s excellence. I accept the award on behalf of our employees, specifically Mark Nienhueser, our cellarmaster, and Paul Hopen, our vineyard manager. I also would like to thank our Chambourcin growers, Bill & Maryann Sadler and Johnny & Carol Matlick.” |
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