2018 Jefferson Cup Invitational Results – Texas Wineries

The 2018 Jefferson Cup Invitational took place from November 15-16, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. At the end of the competition, wines from 12 states were awarded Jefferson Cups which is the highest award.

“While many competitions insist upon selecting a pre-ordained number of sweepstakes winners, our judges are allowed to find the top wines, whether there are only one, two or three, or even NO winners in some categories, as happened this year,” says Jefferson Cup Invitational founder Doug Frost. “In previous years, we’ve had muscadine wine and mead as winners, and this year saw a rosé and a fruit wine. There were once again great examples of wine, both from vinifera and non-vinifera grapes.”

Although many expect California to dominate the awards, Jefferson Cups were won by 11 other states as well: Washington, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and New York. The Jefferson Cup nominees, all Double Gold recipients, included wines from 14 different states.

Many people have begun to call the Jefferson Cup Invitational, the “Olympics” of wine competitions. This competition is not open to every winery willing to submit an entrance fee. Rather we select the best of the best, culled from tastings and competitions in America throughout 2018. The Jefferson Cup Invitational was founded in 1999 in honor of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson fathered our constitution, helped champion the international concept of human rights and was a seminal figure in America’s cultural, culinary (including wine) and agricultural history.

Out of 740 participating wines, the judges selected just 191 wines to receive the Bronze Medals, honoring wines exemplary of their regions and varieties, 311 wines received Silver Medals, and the judges found 96 wines to be worthy of Gold Medals, and 34 being granted Double Gold Medals. These are truly great wines.

Those 58 Double Gold wines (and Jefferson Cup nominees) were tasted by the entire group of 20 judges. Out of those honored wines, the judges collectively picked 24 wines to be awarded the Jefferson Cup. And by selecting both vinifera and non-vinifera wines for the Jefferson Cup each year, the goal is to respect the diversity of American viticulture and Jefferson’s own acceptance of native varieties and hybrids. Jefferson fathered our constitution, helped champion the international concept of human rights and was a seminal figure in America’s cultural, culinary (including wine) and agricultural history.

The one Texas winery who was awarded a Jefferson Cup in the red vinifera category was:

• Pedernales Cellars Valhalla 2016, Texas High Plains

All the results are located on the Jefferson Cup website. Here are all the Texas winery results:

Winery	Grape	Name	AWARD
4R Ranch Vineyards & Winery	Hybrid White Blend	Symphony/Chenin Blenc Trillentrot Demi-Sec 2016 Califor	SILVER
4R Ranch Vineyards & Winery	Vinifera Red Blend	No. 4 2016 Texas	BRONZE
4R Ranch Vineyards & Winery	Vinifera Red Blend	SCS 2016 Texas	BRONZE
4R Ranch Vineyards & Winery	Vinifera Red Blend	Tempranillo Malbec Stampfenstier 2016 Texas High Plains	BRONZE
4R Ranch Vineyards & Winery	Viognier	Viognier Estate 2015 Texoma	BRONZE
4R Ranch Vineyards & Winery	Rosé from vinifera	Grenache Rosé Stampfenstier 2017 Texas	BRONZE
Eden Hill Vineyard	Negroamaro	Midnight in the Vineyard 2016 Texas High Plains	SILVER
Eden Hill Vineyard	Tempranillo	Tempranillo Winemaker's Reserve 2016 Texas	GOLD
Eden Hill Vineyard	Vinifera White Blend	Albarino-Viognier 2017 Texas	DOUBLE GOLD
Flat Creek Estate	Montepulciano	Montepulciano 2015 Texas High Plains	GOLD
Flat Creek Estate	Viognier	Viognier 2017 Texas High Plains	GOLD
Flat Creek Estate	Tempranillo	Tempranillo 2015 Texas High Plains	BRONZE
Flat Creek Estate	Sparkling	Blanco Brio 2017 Texas	BRONZE
Flat Creek Estate	Vinifera White Blend	Pinot Grigio 2017 Texas Hill Country	BRONZE
Fredericksburg Winery	Trebbiano	Devil's Claw 2017 Texas	SILVER
Fredericksburg Winery	Orange Muscat	Snow-on-the-Mountain nv Texas	BRONZE
McPherson Cellars	Viognier	Viognier 2017 Texas High Plains	SILVER
McPherson Cellars	Vinifera Red Blend	IFB Italian Field Blend 2017 Texas/New Mexico	BRONZE
OG Cellars	Syrah	Syrah Reserve 2016 Texas High Plains	BRONZE
Pedernales Cellars	Vinifera Red Blend	Valhalla 2016 Texas High Plains	JEFFERSON CUP
Pedernales Cellars	Vinifera Red Blend	GSM Mélange 2016 Texas High Plains	GOLD
Pedernales Cellars	Vinifera Red Blend	Kuhlken Vineyards Reserve 2016 Texas Hill Country	GOLD
Pedernales Cellars	Viognier	Viognier Reserve 2017 Texas High Plains	BRONZE
Red Caboose Winery & Vineyard	Tempranillo	Tempranillo La Reina nv Texas	SILVER
Red Caboose Winery & Vineyard	Fortified vinifera	Some of That Red nv Texas	SILVER
Red Caboose Winery & Vineyard	Malbec	Malbec 2013 Texas	BRONZE
Texas Hills Vineyard	Cabernet Franc	Cabernet Franc Newsom Vineyards 2012 Texas High Plai	BRONZE
Texas Hills Vineyard	Vinifera Red Blend	Cinque Vino Rosso Estate 2014 Texas Hill Country	BRONZE
Texas Hills Vineyard	Rosé from vinifera	Rosato di Sangiovese Estate 2016 Texas Hill Country	BRONZE