Second year of wine contest draws more competition

One hundred and nine bottles of wine on the wall.

One hundred and nine bottles of wine.

Take one down and pass it around ... and you've got the wine competition at the SEMO District Fair.

It's the second year for wine judging, and the number of entries has grown from 83 to 109 bottles from about 25 contestants this year. Commercial wineries and the home producer compete with each other for the best wine in the region. The eventual winner of best of show was Randy Haman of Kennett, Mo.

Monday morning two entrants sat and watched while Charles Madinger Jr. of Kirkwood, Mo., and Keller Ford of Cape Girar-deau passed around one bottle after another, swirled wine in a goblet, observed, sniffed, tasted and then spat into a green plastic bucket. They then filled out a score card and repeated the process.

"It's kind of like watching paint dry, isn't it?" Madinger commented between tastes.

Wines were assigned a score as high as 5 down to 0 on bouquet, taste and harmony. Harmony isn't how well the wine sings but the balance of alcohol to fruit -- nothing too jarring or too weak.

Ford, general manager of River Ridge Winery south of Cape Girardeau, looked puzzled as he savored a dry white grape wine.

"It's definitely an interesting taste," he said to Madinger. "When I find something off normal usually I like it."

It's not unusual to get an "off" entry because of a bad cork or a glitch in one bottle, Madinger said. While he and Ford were tasting, however, they agreed that what they had tasted so far were good wines.

"All have been presented very well with regard to color and clarity," Madinger said.

Al and Dorothy Hemman of Brazeau, Mo., opened Hemman Winery with their two sons about a year and a half ago. This year their raspberry wine won a blue ribbon in sweet fruit wines. Monday's competition was the second for the couple. Last year they entered five wines and won three ribbons. This year they entered eight varieties including sweet grape and fruit wines.

Al Hemman learned how to make wine from his mother, and for years the couple made it for their own consumption and to give to family and friends.

"We thought that since everybody liked it there should be a market for it," he said. "We can't leave our kids any money. We hope to leave them a legacy."

Steve and Cheryl Smith, who live near Trail of Tears State Park, are still amateur winemakers and plan to stay that way. Steve Smith got interested in winemaking in 1995 after a friend of his began making wine. Now the couple annually makes 40 to 50 gallons that are prized among their friends as gifts. Cheryl has learned to cook with wine. There are seldom leftovers when she makes pork chops with a raspberry wine sauce.

Last year the Smiths entered two wines -- a sweet white and a sweet red -- and won first and second place ribbons, respectively. This year they entered in four categories: sweet red, sweet white, dry white and fruit. The competition this year was stiffer, and they left empty-handed.

"It's a lot of work, but it's kind of fun," Cheryl Smith said.

The Hemmans grow their own grapes. Dorothy Hemman said this summer's cool, wet weather was not good for their grapes. Climate is as important as soil and variety of fruit, she said.

Craft and an art

While good grapes and good soil are important, Madinger said, what really makes a good wine is a good winemaker.

"You have to be a craftsman as well as an artist," he said.

Add to the mix a good manufacturer, marketer and salesman.

"I have seen how much work and effort it takes and how much suffering winemakers go through to bring an outstanding product," Madinger said. "It's very complex."

Madinger grew up with wine and has been a wine merchant for 30 years. His family has been making wine since 1538 in Germany, and his wife's ancestors were the first Americans to plant grapes and make wine in Sonoma County, Calif.

A good wine judge, he said, is one who can ignore his preferences and approach each wine objectively and analytically.

Ford was a bartender before he became interested in wine. He sees Missouri wineries making a name for the state, maybe someday being among the top 10 winemaking states in the country. Some people, he said, will pass by good Missouri wines in a store in favor of California wines just because California is better known as a wine-producing state.

"Before Prohibition Missouri was the second-leading wine producing state to New York," he said. "In the last 10 years we've come up quite a bit. A lot of really good wines are being made."

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160

BEST OF SHOW

Randy Haman, Kennett, Mo.

DRY WHITE, GRAPE

First place, Paul Hendricks, O'Fallon, Mo.; second place, Laughing Springers, Cape Girardeau; third place, Alto Vineyards, Alto Pass, Ill.

DRY, FRUIT

First place, Jerry Bert, Perryville, Mo.; second place, James Casteel, Cape Girardeau; third place, Cedar Fork, Perryville, Mo.

DRY RED, GRAPE

First place, Paul Hendricks, O'Fallon, Mo.; second place, Tony Petruso, St. Louis; third place, Randy Haman, Kennett, Mo.

SWEET ROSE/BLUSH

First place, Alto Vineyards, Alto Pass, Ill.; second place, Inheritance Valley Vineyards, Cobden, Ill.; third place, Alto Vineyards, Alto Pass.

SWEET, FRUIT

First place, Hemman Winery, Brazeau, Mo.; second place, Woodland Vineyards, Bunceton, Mo.; third place, Von Jakob Vineyard, Pomona, Ill.

SWEET RED, GRAPE

First place, Randy Haman, Kennett; second place, Jakob Vineyard, Pomona; third place, Alto Vineyard, Alto Pass.

SWEET WHITE, GRAPE

First place, Laughing Springers, Cape Girardeau; second and third places: Alto Vineyards, Alto Pass.

ALL OTHER WINES

Second and third places, Von Jakob Vineyards, Pomona. (First place not awarded)