One of the film crews at our Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament (from a video blog called Discover Wine Country) just posted a short piece which is DEFINITELY WORTH WATCHING.  It’s short, funny, and for all of you who couldn’t make it, captures the spirit of the competition.  Enjoy!

As some of you already know, earlier this year we were approached by an Australian television production company (Southern Star Entertainment). They were working with Discovery Networks International on a wine-related TV series and they fancied us their stars. Southern Star’s Executive Producer, Tim Toni, an incredibly nice and interesting bloke, felt that the story of Roshambo would make for the most compelling TV and he pitched us to the development crew at DNI. The suits at DNI apparently loved Naomi and the idea and so they sent Tim’s production crew to California to film us for several days. This resulted in the following teaser which introduces the winery and some of its characters. Everything looked quite promising until DNI went through a major organizational restructuring (of course), fired 10% of its staff, which (naturally) included the development team working on our show.

To be quite honest, it came as a relief to Naomi who had a lot of reservations about becoming caricatures on television. She was concerned about the integrity of the brand. And it was a bit of a relief to me given my well documented fear of being filmed from unflattering angles. In any event, we did get this teaser out of the deal. And we hope you enjoy. (Just please don’t focus on my talking double chin.)

Our 5th Annual Roshambo Winery Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament went off without a hitch as 192 competitors let fists and fingers fly for their chance at a piece of the $2500 pie. Once again, the World RPS-sanctioned championship was an international affair, with competitors from both near and far. A cute metal rock chick named Motoko came out from Japan. The one and only “Custard Chuck” and his lady friend, “Scissor Sista,” were in from Darwin, Australia. Wall Street Wonderboy, Matt Brown, trekked out from, you guessed it, Wall Street. And the world famous “Master Roshambollah” of Washington D.C. came for the fifth straight year. (Though, it should be noted that he didn’t officially compete as he retired from the sport several years ago as the world’s greatest champion. He’s kind of like Lance Armstrong, only different.) In other words, there was NO shortage of colorful characters to captivate the imagination. And if you don’t believe me, peep our Flickr page and THESE PHOTOS.

This year’s contest was won by Maricela Barrigan of Santa Rosa who beat out Healdsburg’s Zack Polston. Barrigan claims it was “beginners luck,” but anyone versed in basic RPS strategy (or common sense) knows that she’s just saying that. I mean, if you had just won 1800 big ones would you be racing to reveal your secret? Probably not, especially with our 6th annual championship in the works. (Next summer at our new Cornerstone tasting room!) She did, however, admit to John Beck of the Press Democrat, “I had one cocktail and that was it.” When he asked if there was any chance the rest of the field was inebriated, she said, “Definitely.” Perhaps sobriety was her secret (which is funny, because I heard one late round competitor attribute “cocaine” and his “speedy mind” to his successful run). Whatever the case, in the 5 year history of this tournament, 4 of the winners have been women. Naomi Brilliant has an interesting theory on this: “It just goes to show that men have no idea what’s going on in the minds of women, and women know exactly what’s going on in the minds of men.” True that.
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CLICK HERE for some video footage of the event and John Beck’s recap.

And special thanks to photographer Josh Adler for his sharp eye and contributions to our Flickr page. (He also snapped great photos of last year’s Pirate Prom. Adler is Aces.)

Last but not least, please send some of your best photos from the event to me: scott (at) scottkeneally.com. I’d love to add them to our Flickr page!

DOUBLE GOLD - 2004 “Justice” Syrah!!!!!
GOLD - 2005 “Imago” Chardonnay
GOLD - 2005 “Obvious” Sauvignon Blanc
SILVER - 2004 “Reverend” Zinfandel
SILVER - 2005 “Reverend” Zinfandel
BRONZE - 2006 “imoan” Syrah Rose’

The results are in from the 2007 Sonoma County Harvest Fair and… our ridiculously yummy 2004 Justice Syrah has won the coveted “Double Gold” award. Actually, all of our main varietals took home medals! Once again, we’ve brought our broom to the party and swept a pile of precious metals into our corner. Muchos gracias to our unthinkably talented winemaking team for their heart and soul, instincts and taste. However, as I scan through the endless scroll of winners, and headlines like this…

…I can’t help but think that the Sonoma County Harvest Fair has finally, um, humped the shark. I suspect I’m going to get in trouble for saying this, because we shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds us, buuuuuuuuuuut… 90% of the wines won an award? (You’re kidding, right?)

I don’t mean to be mean but there’s something about dishing out 900 awards in a field of 1000 wines that, in my opinion, diminishes the very spirit and credibility of the competition. I don’t blame the judges who might feel compelled to reward most producers because honestly, Sonoma County represents an embarrassment of wine riches. There’s so much great freaking wine around here (think Iron Horse Vineyards, Unti, Medlock Ames, etc…) that it must be tough to choose one over another. There just aren’t too many bad wines. But, if the Sonoma County Harvest Fair hopes to be respected on a wider, more national level, like, say to wine buyers in NYC, at some point, they probably need to reassess their “Harvest of Gold” approach, and find some judges who are willing to make the hard decision to choose one wine over another. Not those who take the easier way out and simply expand the field to include a record number of top awards. That’s kind of like giving people a 1400 on the SAT’s just for signing their name.

Not to say our wines don’t deserve every ounce of precious metal. Because they do. Try for yourself!

If anyone is hemming and hawing and wondering whether or not they should BUY A TICKET to compete in our 5th Annual Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship, or if anyone is wondering what the hell an RPS Tournament entails, well, I suggest you take a peek at this clip.  It’s from the CBS Sunday Morning Show.  I simply cannot express how much fu#king fun our signature event is.  Words fail me.  Luckily, however, I have this national news feature to back me up.  Enjoy responsibly and please, BUY A TICKET.  I promise… win, lose or draw, you will have the time of your life.  And isn’t that what it’s all about?