California’s Lake County built its reputation for fine wine with zesty Sauvignon Blancs and chiseled Cabernet Sauvignons.

That standing was affirmed earlier this month when the Lake County Fair introduced its Blue Ribbon Wine Competition, the first comprehensive judging in the county in six years. Results were unveiled last night at the fair’s annual Blue Ribbon Dinner in Lakeport.

Fair officials assembled the competition quickly, drawing 81 entries for its debut. Nonetheless, results validated the reliability of the county’s Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon, while also pointing consumers to other varietal wines and blends poised to enhance the stature of the area as a grape-growing and winemaking region.

Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and blended red wines formed the largest and most competitive classes of the day. (In its inaugural go-around, the competition stood apart from other wine competitions in that all entries were judged by a single nine-person panel. At other competitions, panels customarily consist of three to five judges. The Lake County method led to more debate than usual among judges, stretching deliberations across six hours, and perhaps enhancing the significance of the panel’s conclusions.)

The class of Sauvignon Blancs, which drew 11 entries, showed  that Lake County’s way with the grape yields a wide range of appealing styles, from the freshness and citric piquancy usually associated with New Zealand interpretations to ripe, layered and herbal takes more representative of Sancerre. Of the 11, all but one won double-gold, gold, or silver. (A double-gold medal was awarded when at least seven of the nine judges agreed that a wine deserved gold.)

And at the end, the sweepstakes white wine of the competition was a Sauvignon Blanc, the Carruth Cellars Urban Winery 2023 Lake County Clear Lake Sauvignon Blanc ($32), an unusually complicated representative of the varietal, seizing sunny suggestions of melons, lime, and fig as well as fresh herbal notes, notably sage. The grapes traveled well, having been hauled from Clear Lake, one of the county’s eight American Viticultural Areas, to Oceanside to be transformed into wine at Carruth’s production facility.

The red-wine sweepstakes honor went to the Osprey Vineyards 2020 Lake County Big Valley District Hindcite Red ($22), a Nero d’Avola saturated with dark and juicy berry fruit enlivened with a thread of peppery spice, all hung on a trellis sturdy but barely noticeable under fat bunches of grapes. Nero d’Avola is a hearty Sicilian grape drawing interest among California vintners as they cope with higher temperatures during the growing season.

Brassfield Estate Winery captured the specialty-wine sweepstakes with its thick, floral, and honeyed 2023 Lake County High Valley Estate Late Harvest Pinot Gris ($26).

And Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill won the sweepstakes award for rosé wines with its coppery and lean 2022 Sierra Foothills Rosé ($26), surprisingly complex for a pink wine, with suggestions of green olives revolving around strawberries in the glass. It is a blend of Zinfandel and Syrah. Chacewater is based in Kelseyville, but also has a vineyard in Nevada County. (The competition accepted entries from Lake County wineries regardless of where they get their grapes, as well as entries from outside wineries using Lake County grapes.)

The Cabernet Sauvignon class drew 12 entries, with all but one winning gold or silver, two of them double-gold medals: the developed and persistent Brassfield Estate 2021 Lake County High Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($35), juicy with suggestions of ripe cherries; and the mature and oaky Cache Creek Vineyards & Winery 2020 Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon ($40).

Brassfield Estate Winery, a stalwart member of the Lake County wine trade since Jerry Brassfield began to convert parcels of his 5000-acre cattle ranch into vineyards in 2001, turned in the day’s most impressive overall performance, rounding up four double-gold and three gold medals.

Of the 81 entries, only one – the Dancing Crow Vineyards 2021 Lake County Kelsey Bench Old Stake 1901 Vineyard Field Blend ($50) – received a unanimous vote for gold from the panel. It is one sleekly elegant wine, Bordeaux-like in its steely structure, California-like in its abundant fruit, running mostly to fully ripe cherries.

Kelsey Bench, along the county’s southwest edge, stretches across an old lava flow between volcanic mountains and an alluvial floodplain. Old Stake 1901 Vineyard takes its name from the year its first vines were planted. Today, the vineyard plays host to seven acres of head-pruned vines. Some 20 grape varieties are believed to grow in the vineyard, all gathered and fermented together to create “Field Blend.” The 16 varieties identified so far include Alicante Bouschet, Touriga Nacional, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Cinsault and Roussanne, according to information on the website of the Historic Vineyard Society.

The Lake County Fair continues through Sunday in Lakeport.

To find a copy of my book “The Signature Wines of Superior California: 50 Wines that Define the Sierra Foothills, the Delta, Yolo and Lodi,” please visit my website, SignatureWines.us.