3,500 wines, 120 judges, 175 staging volunteers and a partridge in a pear tree. The officials results are in for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s (HLSR) 2020 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition. I spent 2 days in mid-November judging wines for the competition. HLSR is a 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to educating the state’s youth. Since its beginning, they have raised over $500 million for Texas youth and education. So yes, I was drinking 🍷for the kids!
Part of HLSR’s efforts includes the signature Rodeo Uncorked! events which highlight wine production in agriculture. This includes the wine competition, a wine auction, and a Champion Wine Garden that will feature the winning wines during the Rodeo. In March 2019, they sold 5,600 cases of wine in 3 weeks in the Champion Wine Garden alone!
My great panel and I tasted 115 wines on day 1 and another 50 wines on day 2. We tasted everything from sparkling wines, to roses, to Italian varietals, to sweet whites, to dry whites, to Cabernet Sauvignon and more. Find a list of all the winners here. And if you’re around in March 2020, stop by the Champion Wine Garden and taste some of the winners.
No Comments