Fresno State wines take top awards

---

Fistfuls of ribbons accompanied Winemaster Ken Fugelsang home from the State Fair, where all Fresno State wines entered won awards.

by Mary Lisa Russell

Judges for North America's most prestigious wine competition named Fresno State's 1998 Shiraz wine "Best Shiraz of California" last month at the Third Annual Grape and Gourmet Wine Tasting Press Conference Event in Sacramento.

All five university wines entered by Fresno State won awards earlier at the California State Fair Wine Competition, the oldest, most prestigious wine judging competition in North America.

The university received a double gold rating for its 1998 Shiraz wine, scoring 99 out of 100 points. The 1998 Sunshine, Chardonnay and Barbera wines received silver medals with scores of 90, 89, and 89, respectively. The university's Nouveau wine received a bronze medal with a score of 87. The 1998 Barbera, Sunshine and Valley Nouveau received additional "Best of Class" awards for their respective varieties.

Winemaster Ken Fugelsang said the awards from certified judges in a competition of this magnitude is somewhat like a Nobel Prize in the wine industry. The wine competition was initiated in 1854.

More than 2,100 wines from 405 labels were entered by commercial wineries throughout the state. Fresno State is the first and only university in the nation to be licensed to produce, bottle and sell wine commercially.