Santa Rosa, Calif., —July 2, 2020— The results of the 2020 Sunset International Wine Competition are in. Vying for "Best of Show", the difficult decision to choose just one recipient was selected from 13 "Best in Class" winners including the 2016 vintage of Aratas Petite Sirah.
This year’s competition saw a 10% increase in entries over last year, despite the pandemic, and was held in Santa Rosa the week of June 22. A record 12 judging panels were needed to accommodate the volume of entries, along with physical distancing requirements. Judging panels were comprised of 36 industry experts, including journalists, buyers and winemakers, who judged wines from all over the world over a three-day period. While many wine competitions have been canceled this year, the 2020 Sunset International Wine Competition was determined to go on.
Debra Del Fiorentino, President of Wine Competitions Production & Management (WCP&M), said, “First of all, we are grateful for the support of the local county Health Department in allowing us to run this competition. All imaginable health precautions were taken to ensure the safety of judges and backroom staff, while the wines were given the full measure of respect they deserve. Secondly, we are grateful to all the wineries that sent in their wines for evaluation. This year’s entries garnered a record number of Golds and Double Golds, making for a very competitive Sweepstakes round. The judges had some very difficult decisions to make when faced with those final 30 wines!”
"BEST IN CLASS" with 99 Points was awarded to Aratas Wine 2016 Petite Sirah a single vineyard wine from the Napa Valley. A fabulous value at $56 release price. This wine is only available direct from the winery at this lime. LIMITED. PRE-ORDER NOW for Oct 1st delivery HERE
Watch for the upcoming Sunset Magazine special issue hitting newstands this fall.
To read the full results including the white wines read the Wine Industry Network Advisor press release.