“This group of 14 wines shows an outstanding array of styles and varieties, and as always, extremely high quality,” said Kyle Schlachter, executive director of the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. “Each year, the Governor’s Cup competition highlights the high quality and consistently great taste of the wines produced in Colorado. Any wine drinker can find something they love produced right here in our home state. Congratulations to all our participating wineries!”

The competition is judged through a blind tasting, meaning that judges only know the grape variety or category of a wine and the vintage, but not the producer or any other identifying information. The panel was made up of Colorado sommeliers and wine professionals, as well as highly acclaimed wine writers and wine experts from around the country who traveled to Denver to sit on this year’s 15-person judging panel.

Notable returning judges included Doug Frost, Master of Wine and Master Sommelier; Zach Lewison, Sommelier at Sonnenalp in Vail; and Jenne Baldwin-Eaton, Founding Director of the Warren Winiarski/Gerald Ivancie Institute of Viticulture and Enology at CMU Tech in Grand Junction. New notable judges on this year’s panel include Erin Rasmussen, winemaker at The American Wine Project in Wisconsin, Tonya Pitts, Wine Director at One Market Restaurant in San Francisco and 2022 Wine Enthusiast Sommelier of the Year; and Patrick Comiskey, Senior Wine Correspondent for Wine & Spirits Magazine. The full list of judges can be found at ColoradoWine.com/governors-cup.

“I have judged at every Governor’s Cup competition since 2018 and the continued increase in wine quality was very clear this year,” said Wayne Belding, Colorado’s first Master Sommelier. “We, as judges, had a difficult task of selecting only 12 wines for the Collection – hence there are 14 wines! I’m excited to watch the Colorado wine industry grow and I think Colorado consumers are fortunate to have such amazing local wines at their fingertips. Those who seek them out will find great variety and high quality.”

The CWIDB uses the Governor’s Cup Collection to represent Colorado at marketing events, industry shows, and through other opportunities in the state and across the country. The award-winning wines will also be used for educational purposes at Colorado winemaker roundtable discussions to recognize and improve the overall quality of Colorado wines.