Now here is a buying guide that you need!  My guest was Clarissa Elgarten, Publisher of American Gold Medal Wines - The Premiere Edition 2005 Directory of America's Best Wines from 20 major wine competitions.  All are gold medal winners.  It's easy to use, and a tool that will prove more reliable than any 100 point scale ratings you've used in the past.  Join us to learn more and win a copy of the 2005 directory.

www.americangoldmedalwines.com 

Commercial wine competitions are the key to success when it comes to identifying top quality American wine. Every year both large and small vineyards enter their wines into competitions across the country. While there are hundreds of local, state and regional wine competitions held every year, we have identified what we deem to be the most important and influential judgings. It is in this forum that panels of informed wine professionals -- typically vineyard owners, wine buyers, wine store owners, wine writers, and other people who make their living from the trade -- as well as educated consumers, sample and rank wines. Wines are evaluated, scores for each wine are tallied, and then gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded according to predetermined criteria. Most importantly, every wine is placed on an equal footing, and awards are based on the impression of many judges, not just one.

American Gold Medal Wines then takes it a step further. We have aggregated all of the gold medal winners together in one place to present you with the results in a clear, concise and easy to use format. Winning wines are arranged by type of grape and then by price within its variety. Additionally, we have given these winning vintners a forum to provide you with greater insight on their gold medal wines.