PRESS RELEASE FOR MARCH 2, 2010, PASO ROBLES, CALIFORNIA ­

The Central Coast Wine Competition announced today the expansion of the eight year old competition that has continued to grow showcasing some of the finest wines produced on California’s Central Coast.  The first major change is the expansion of growing areas eligible to compete.  The geographical boundaries will be expanded to include all of the Central Coast AVA and Ventura County. The Central Coast AVA is a large American Viticultural Area that spans from Santa Barbara County in the south to the San Francisco Bay Area in the north. The boundaries of the Central Coast include portions of six counties. With around 100,000 acres planted in wine grapes the  AVA is home to several smaller appellations that share the same cooling influence from the Pacific Ocean.

The other new key component will be the implementation of combining four events to showcase the winning wineries. The California Mid‐State Fair will be partnering with Santa Barbara County Fair, Monterey County Fair and Ventura County Fair to host the Central Coast Wine Competition.  In 2003, the California Mid‐State Fair presented its first‐ever  commercial wine competition, the Golden Spur Syrah Challenge, which proved to be a tremendous success with fifty‐three  wineries submitting over seventy wines for judging. Today the competition has evolved to represent over 600 entries.

“We  are  thrilled  to  collaborate  with  these  incredible  agriculture  venues  on  the  Central  Coast  of California”, noted Vivian Robertson, CEO of the California Mid‐State Fair.  “The benefits for the wineries will be the increase in marketing exposure and ability to enter one competition instead of four.  The fairs will utilize economies of scale, and by combining our resources, be able to host the best competition for our exhibitors.”

Entry information will be available after the first of April with the competition taking place in mid June. For further information refer to our new wine blog at centralcoastwinecompetition.wordpress.com.