What an experience! I want to thank Jim for being such a great sport while I had so much fun learning (he was working). I also want to thank my family & friends for voting for my video, even though I was the only entrant 
That’s enough of that for now…
I was so busy socializing, tasting, eating, tasting, and visiting that I did not take a lot of pictures, aren’t you lucky! So here are a few, just to give you an idea. It was hard work, really! Starting at 9:00am to 5:00pm, we judged flights and more flights of wine. Over 100 wines each day, we stopped long enough to discuss the wines between each flight and to have a little lunch. It’s a great thing that I had already learned how to spit, wine that is.
Friday night there was a potluck at Bob W’s house. That was a great way to meet many of the people involved in the Platinum judging and to share a lot of wine. I could have gone crazy, I did try many of them, but just small sips so that I could make it through the night and not be burned out for the weekend. It was a tough job, but I knew I could do it.
Saturday, I learned real fast the process of wine judging. The folks from the "backroom" bring in a flight of wine, place it in front of you and off you go. Sniff, swirl, sniff, slurp, swish, spit, savor… write notes and judge. You do that with each wine, up to 12 glasses in a flight. The moderator lets you know what the score is and writes up a profile for the wine. If there is not a clear decision on the rating (based on 4 scores), then it is discussed until concensus is reached. It takes time and effort, but still, for me, very interesting. Then it starts all over again with the next flight. Oh darn… bring it on!
After Saturdays judging, we went out to Alexandria Nicole Cellars for dinner. Jerrod, owner/winemaker of ANC, was on the panel that I was a part of and he put on a spread! Kristine, she works in the tasting room at ANC, did an exceptional job to keep us all happy, well fed and provided with adult beverages. Jerrod has an exceptional employee in her. I want her job when I grow up… If you have never been out to ANC, you need to give it a try, if nothing else, try their wines. I bought several to bring home myself! I even snagged a prized bottle of Petit Syrah and a Syrah late harvest dessert wine, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Here’s what we had for dinner, and oh, BTW, the chef, Frank was awesome too. I need to go back and try out his restaurant in Prosser, WA.
Winemaker’s Dinner at Alexandria Nicole Cellars
(Chef Frank Magana of Picazo 717)
Haunted Beginnings:
Sardine Bruschetta
Chorizo Prawns with prosciutto
Olives & Marconi Almonds
Spooky Seconds:
Mixed Field Green Salad with
slivered almonds, apples & warm Chevre
Scary Seafood:
Herb crusted grilled Swordfish with
Mediterranean relish served over squid ink risotto
Monster’s Main Course:
Grilled pork tenderloin with
pomegranate sauce
Petit Fillet of beef tenderloin with
peppercorn sauce
Potato Napoleon
Frankenstein’s Finish:
Chocolate Decadence with
chocolate cherry sauce
Once again, there was a lot of great wine to drink with dinner, though I drank a beer too (it takes a lot of beer to make great wine and in this case, to clear the palate). ANC not only has wine, they have 2 rotating beer taps, so, hey, if your hubby would rather have beer than wine, you have it made in the shade at ANC!
Sunday was all about finishing up the judging, over 100 more wines to "get through", but in my case, to enjoy. Since I don’t do this for a living, it was a thrill to be able to taste through all of these wines, but remember, we did it blind! All we knew was what the varietal was (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, etc), and each wine was judged on it’s own, not against each other. I did very well, thank you very much. My scores (though they did not count) closely matched the "real" judges on the panel. Not all the time, but over 85% of the time I think, so hey, I too could be a judge Any one need a wine judge??? I work for wine…
All of the wines judged in this 10th Annual Platinum Judging have already won at least one gold medal in some other wine competition. All we did was judge the "already" best of the best and come up with the "Best of the Best" in each of the varietal categories. Here is a little info on how the wines faired:
Total wines judged: 451
Double platinums: 16
Platinums: 66
Double golds: 193
Golds: 149
No medals: 27
You can find out which wines won which rating in the December issue of Wine Press Northwest… more info on who participated in the judging:
Judges:
– Dan Berger, Wine Press Northwest columnist and international wine judge, Santa Rosa, Calif.
– Parks Redwine, director of the Northwest Wine Summit wine competition, Atlanta, Ga.
– Winnie Alberg, wine judge and vineyard manager, Ellensburg, Wash.
– Jay Drysdale, wine judge and VQA liaison, Oliver, British Columbia.
– Jarrod Boyle, owner/winemaker of Alexandria Nicole Cellars, Prosser, Wash.
– Bob Woehler, Wine Press Northwest tasting editor, Kennewick, Wash.
– Ken Robertson, Wine Press Northwest columnist, Kennewick, Wash.
– Coke Roth, international wine judge and vineyard owner, Richland, Wash.
Guest judges (nonvoting):
– Kim Waddle, Portland, Ore.
– Metiner Kimel, Yakima, Wash.
Moderators:
– Andy Perdue
– Eric Degerman
I want to thank everyone associated with the Platinum judging, for such a fabulous time. You can invite me back any time 
now it’s time to go enjoy a glass of wine…