The judging begins!

WOW Festival News:

Our first year in the City of Jacksonville and what a success.  Thank you citizens of Jacksonville for making us feel welcome and providing the support we needed to bring the World of Wine Festival to your town.

We had an ambitious agenda planned for this year. Our goal was to create a week of wine-focused activities that will draw people into our region for a lengthy stay. We envisioned a week filled with a variety of winery activities such as vineyard tours, special wine tastings, and wine dinners. To help build this event we partnered with Jacksonville businesses that offered lodging packages, restaurants, and increased advertizing opportunities. We hope to expand on our partnership in the future.

Event organizers, Les Martin, Red Lily Vineyards, Cal Schmidt, Schmidt Family Vineyards, Joe Ginet, Plaisance Ranch and David Works, Segway of Jacksonville

The week began with a Wednesday night wine social. We had ticket sales to the public and invited winery personnel to attend free. Hors d’oeuvres were provided by local restaurants and wine was supplied by a distributor.  It was a beautiful evening and everyone really enjoyed themselves. There were over 80 people who attended.

On Thursday and Friday, there were two wine sensory classes. The feedback was  overwhelmingly positive. Dwayne Bershaw, from SOWI, gave 2 enjoyable informative classes. We hope to expand on this event next year and perhaps add an advanced tasting class. It is the perfect way to learn about how to taste wine and discover what spitting is all about.

Friday night we sponsored a Gala dinner paired with gold medal wines. We had a TV personality MC the event and featured 4 local chefs who prepared unique entrées, accompanied with a gold medal wine. The preparation of each course was filmed and projected on a big screen. There was a panel of four judges who critiqued and voted on each dish. The audience also had the capability of voting their favorite dish. It was a fabulous idea, and I believe the first time something like this was attempted in our area.

Chef Paul Becking, C Street Bistro

Gala Dinner

Admittedly, there were some logistic problems with the implementation. There was a last minute rush for ticket sales at the door. We had counted on 125 people and ended up serving 154 people.  All and all,  people had a good time and thought the idea was terrific. They promised to return next year. The WOW committee is committed to identifying the weak points and making the necessary adjustments for the future.

The traditional WOW tasting event was held Saturday night. This was the final event of the festival and did not disappoint us.  We had ordered a larger tent with an outside tent for business sponsors. The larger tent was necessary to accommodate the record number of wineries who participated; 65 wineries registered and attended.

Outside the WOW Tent

We had 541 paid attendees and an additional 209 staff, winery servers, and guests. The caterers and food vendors provided ample food for over 750 people. There were some notable guests who attended including Neil Shay and his wife, Executive Director of the Oregon Wine Research Institute, Steve Burns and Stacie Jacob acting Directors of the Oregon Wine Board, Chris Lake, Director, Southern Oregon Wine Institute, and the Mayor and his wife from the city of Jacksonville.

Sharon and Mayor Paul Becker

Inside the WOW Tent

Parking was controlled by some of Jacksonville’s finest fire department personnel.

As pleased as we are with our new location, I still remember the eight wonderful years we were hosted by Rob and Jolee Wallace at Del Rio. Their venue was special and gave birth to the whole idea of a WOW Festival. We owe them a lot.

Thank you again and we look forward to a growing partnership and to more activities for all to enjoy and participate in.

Lee Mankin
WOW Chairman

Local AWARD Winners:

Congratulations from the Jacksonville Review to our advertising clients for winning medals at the Southern Oregon World of Wine Festival! For a detailed list of winning varietals, visit www.worldofwinefestival.com.

Plaisance Ranch – Gold Best of Show – White Wine

RoxyAnn Winery – Gold Best of Show – Red Wine

Caprice Vineyards – People’s Choice Award

Agate Ridge Winery (1 gold, 3 silver)

Cliff Creek Cellars (1 silver)

Cricket Hill Winery (1 silver)

Devitt Winery (1 silver)

Fly High Vineyard (1 silver)

Fiasco/Jacksonville Vineyards (2 silver)

Quady North (3 silver)

Red Lily Vineyards (1 silver)

Roxy Ann Winery (1 gold, 1 silver)

Schmidt Family Vineyards (1 silver)

Serra Vineyards (2 silver)

Soloro Vineyard (1 silver)

South Stage Cellars (4 silver)

Valley View Winery (1 silver)

Wooldridge Creek Winery (2 silver)