Congratulations to our very own Jeff Binney, of Jeff’s Corner fame, being selected as a judge for the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. A rare honor! Read his post below to learn more!

Jeff’s Corner

Well, last week I promised some super exciting news, so let’s get straight to it. I’ve been invited to judge the 2016 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition in January. Now, you probably understood this the first time, but I had to read the invitation about 20 times before it sank in. WOW! This is like playing in the World Series.

The SFCWC is the largest, most prestigious American wine competition in the world. In 2015 there were 6300 wines entered from 28 states. Last year Grape Creek brought home 12 medals, including 4 golds and Best in Class for our 2014 Cuvee Blanc.

The competition is held at the Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds in Sonoma, and I’ll be treated to an all expense paid trip courtesy of the competition. The first night, Kathy and I will be guests at the Judges Dinner hosted at one of the nearby vineyards. (Last year it was at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery.) We will also enjoy another evening at the home of Bob Fraser, the Executive Director of the event.

Kathy will be set free to enjoy herself all day while I’m trying to stay focused for three days of intense, nonstop judging. I’ll be one of 60 judges evaluating wines divided into over 100 categories. The website for the SFCWC is packed with lots of cool info. You can check it out with the link in the comments section.

So, how did this incredible opportunity come about? It’s all because of three very awesome coworkers: John Martin, Kaye Randle, and Patrick Goodman.

Bob Fraser and his family visited GCV while Kathy and I were vacation and had a great time. Kaye and John said nice things about me (especially about Jeff’s Corner), and sent Mr. Fraser to the store on Main St. to meet me. Well, I was in West Texas, but Patrick continued to chat me up and secured his card with a note on the back asking me to email him when I got home.

I did, and he responded saying that he had read a bunch of my articles and was hoping I could fit judging the SFCWC competition into my schedule. Well, guess what, it fit in just fine. What a great opportunity; thanks you three for doing so much to make it happen!