Up and Coming Local South Texas Wines and Winemakers Shine at the Austin County Fair Wine Show

Up and Coming Local South Texas Wines and Winemakers Shine at the Austin County Fair Wine Show

Guest Blog from Louise Rice

Martha Tarkington of Victoria and Dr. Ron Zboril of Bellville took home the Best of Show and the Runner Up Belt Buckles Awards for their respective entries in the second annual Austin County Fair Non-Commercial Wine Show competition held on October 3, 2009 at the Fairgrounds in Bellville, Texas. Lloyd Klaus of Cat Spring was awarded the second runner up award. 

A total 43 entries were received for this year’s show in eleven out of the twelve categories.  The Austin County Grape Growers Committee and members of the Bluebonnet Master Gardeners Association helped with designing the format for the show, collecting the entries, and pouring for the judges. 

Two certified judges and two celebrity judges were used to evaluate the wines which came from amateur wine makers from around the state of Texas.  The judges were: Dr. Don Bosse, Ron Salkowski, Vicki Parker and Alan Kuehn. Each wine was judged on a 25 point scale and evaluated based on the wine’s appearance, aroma, body, taste, and finish. 

At the conclusion of the competition, the participants and general public where invited to a tasting of the local wines.  Special thanks go to the Austin County Fair Board and the Texas Department of Agriculture for their support of this event.
 
Austin County Wine Show Results
 
Best of Show – Martha Tarkington (Blush)

First Runner-Up – Dr. Ron Zboril (Port)

Second Runner-Up – Lloyd Klaus (Fruit/Berry)

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Award Winning Wines by Category

Red Wine – Dry
Silver – Doug Rowlett
Bronze – Kikki Palacios

White Wine – Sweet
Gold – Merrick Bonewitz

White Wine – Dry
Gold – Jerry Watson
Silver – Martha Tarkington
Bronze – Doug Rowlette

Dessert/Port Style
Gold – Dr. Ron Zboril
Silver – Mark Tarkington
Bronze – Merrick Bonwitz

Kit Wine – Dry Red
Gold – Richard Clayton
Silver – Richard Clayton
Bronze – Michael Steele

Kit Wine Dry White
Bronze – Richard Clayton

Fruit/Berry Wine
Gold – Lloyd Klaus
Silver – Billy Schaffner
Bronze – Trent Dierking

Native Grape/Mustang – Sweet
Gold – Brad Klausmeyer
Silver – Danny Koester
Bronze – Kirby Klump Jr.

Kit Wine – Sweet White
Bronze – Richard Clayton

Blush Wine
Gold – Martha Tarkington