Bialla Vineyards

May, 2009

As previously mentioned, we entered the Decanter World Wine Awards and lo and behold the Empire has blessed us with their royal acknowledgment that our gang in Napa might just know what we are doing.

Very hard to get any medal out of the Brits, especially after we declared our independence some 250 years ago. I think they are still mad at us.

In London, prominent wine writer Robert Joseph tasted the 2006 Cabernet and said, "This wine is like somebody you know is strong, but you can't see the muscles". He said he is looking forward to meeting Vito and Linda in the flesh. Our winemaker of course has to be present because it is British tradition to never taste wine without the presence of THE winemaker.

However, out of some 9000 wines they taste blind, Bialla Vineyards 2006 Cabernet was awarded a Silver Medal. The award in Britain's Decanter magazine World Wine Awards for 2009 is meaningful for us not only in status but also because it gives us feedback on how the Europeans like our wine.

Only one California 2006 Cabernet won a gold medal. Bialla scored better than many established names from the Napa Valley, so we think we are on the right track in how we steer our wine making.

Here are the Napa Valley Cabernet results for the 2006 vintage in Decanter's annual tasting:


Gold Medals (1):

  • Barnett Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, not available in the UK.


Silver Medals (2):

  • Bialla Vineyards 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon.
  • Hess Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.
  • Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.
  • Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.


Commended (2):

  • Hess Collection Allomi Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.
  • Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.
No other Napa Cabernets were awarded medals.


In the total California red wine category of all vintages and varietals, Bialla 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon was rated more highly than:

  • Duckhorn Vineyards 2005 Merlot, rated Commended
  • Paul Hobbs 2005 Napa Valley Crossbarn, rated Commended
  • Rubicon Estate 2005 Cask Cabernet Sauvignon, rated Commended
  • Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 2005 Cask 23 Cabernet Sauvignon, rated Commended
  • Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 2005 Fay Vineyard, rated Commended

For detailed results, please visit www.decanter.com

Thank you for sharing our medals, ratings, sense of humor and passion for our wine. Vito & Linda Bialla