Pictured are Kent and Connie Eichenauer pouring glasses of the Double Gold medal Estate Marquette wine of the Ohio Wine Competition along with the medal-winning wines from the Great American International Wine Competition.
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Dragonfly Vineyard & Wine Cellar of Champaign County earned a number of medals in two separate competitions this year.
The 2024 Great American International Wine Competition was held May 4-5 in Rochester, New York. There were over 900 entries including international entries from Europe and South America. Dragonfly was awarded 3 medals, including a Gold medal for the 2019 Vintner’s Red Blend, a Silver Medal for its 2021/22 Merlot and a Bronze for its estate wine 2023 Semi Dry LaCrescent.
In the 2024 Ohio Wine Competition, wines are also awarded Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, and there is also the distinction for exceptional wines with a medal for Double Gold.
Dragonfly was honored to be awarded 10 medals including a Double Gold and 3 Gold medals which were all for estate wines that are grown in its vineyard. The Double Gold was awarded to its Marquette, and the Gold medals were awarded to My Buddy Jim, LaCrescent Curves, and its Vidal Blanc Ice Wine. Ice Wine is a sweet dessert wine that is made from grapes that are picked when they are frozen (along with the hands of the people who are doing the picking).
Connie Eichenauer is the manager of the vineyard that tends to each of these grapes that earned gold medals. Kent Eichenauer is the winemaker.
Kent responded to this recognition, “This is just feels very good. Last year, our estate LaCrescent Curves received a ‘Best of Class’ award in the Ohio competition. This year, while the LaCrescent did very well again, it was the Marquette, another estate wine, that received a double gold. And then, our first shot at making an ice wine getting a gold medal is very cool. I can’t wait for us to release that one!” Connie adds, “The vineyard does require a lot of time and work. It is so rewarding that these wines that we grow right here in our vineyard are the ones that received the top awards in the Ohio competition.”
The award-winning wines for Dragonfly Vineyard & Wine Cellar were: Double Gold: Marquette; Gold: My Buddy Jim, LaCrescent Curves, Vidal Blanc Ice Wine; Silver: Who’s Your Daddy Red; Bronze: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, LaCrescent Semi Dry, Vidal Blanc Dry, Friends-Ship Port Style.
The 2024 Ohio Wine Competition is coordinated by Kent State University Ashtabula and sponsored by the Ohio Grape Industries Committee. It was held at the Lodge at Geneva on May 17-18. There was a record-breaking total of 436 entries this year.
Dragonfly Vineyard & Wine Cellar is located just north of Urbana at 710 W. Herr Road. The vineyard was established in 2011 and the winery opened in 2019. More information can be found at www.dragonflyvineyard.com.
Submitted by Dragonfly Vineyard & Wine Cellar
