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Business & Tech

Villa del Monte Winery Announces New Awards

The Los Gatos Winery rakes in two Golds and a Silver at the West Coast Wine Competition.

Neil Perrelli and John Overstreet, co-owners of have even more reason to be proud of their five-year-old winery.

The West Coast Wine Competition, which judges wines from Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Australia, Baja California (Mexico), British Columbia (Canada), New Zealand, and the wine regions of South America, has awarded Villa del Monte two gold medals and one silver.

And the winning wines are:

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Gold: 2009 Pinot Noir Reserve Santa Cruz Mountains Regan Vineyard

Gold: 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz Mountains Villa Festa Vineyard 

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Silver: 2009 Merlot Reserve Carneros Moon Vineyard 

When asked why he thought Villa del Monte's wines won, winery co-owner Neil Perrelli said, "Our wines are single vineyard, single varietal so you can taste the true characteristics of the fruit."

Co-owner John Overstreet added, "We are very pleased that the Cabernet received an award.  It is very special since it comes from a small vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which is an area known more for Pinot than for Cab."

The winning Cabernet consists of 100% Cabernet grapes grown on a small vineyard on Loma Prieta Avenue in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The winery describes the full-bodied wine as having flavors of black currants, medium tannins, and a deep red color.

Pinot Noir grapes are grown in the southern part of the Santa Cruz Mountains. According to Villa del Monte, this pinot has spicy black pepper, clove and warm red fruit jam flavors that “linger luxuriously on your palate.”

The 100% merlot grapes come from Moon Vineyard in the famed Los Carneros region of Napa. This wine is described as having a deep burgundy color with “a delicious raspberry chewiness and a smoky, sultry aroma.”

The West Coast Wine Competition was established in 1982 and is chaired by 35-year wine-trade veteran Bill Traverso. Two dozen wine experts from the wine industry, including those involved in media, research, production, education and marketing, were at the judges table. Judging took place over three days, April 26-28, in Healdsburg, California.

In addition to the West Coast Wine Competition awards, Villa del Monte also won a Gold award for the 2009 Merlot Reserve Carneros Moon Vineyard and a Bronze for the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz Mountains Villa Festa Vineyard at the 2011 Riverside International Wine Competition.

You’ll have your chance to taste the Villa del Monte award winners and their other wines this coming Memorial Day weekend. Interested people should call 888-788-4583, ext 1 for a tasting appointment and directions to the winery.

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