Black Star places at GLINTCAP
Aug. 11—GRAND RAPIDS — It sounds like the start of a bad joke: "A winery walks into a cider and perry competition ..."
The Winery at Black Star Farms won a pair of Best of Class finishes in the 15th annual Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition. The event was held July 28-30 in Grand Rapids.
Black Star Farms, which began its distillery operations in 1999, according to a release, took first and third place in the Spirits category at GLINTCAP. Black Star won first for its Spirit of Pear and third for Spirit of Apple among the 10 entries in the category.
"Our region produces some of the best fruit in the world," Winery at Black Star Farms Managing Owner Sherri Campbell Fenton said in an email. "Our classical method for producing spirits at Black Star Farms allows us to maintain a great deal of the fruit's flavors and characteristics — the resulting products are beautiful, flavorful brandies.
"As a winery well known for our wines, it is delightful to see us gain awards for our spirits as well," Campbell Fenton said.
Black Star also earned a bronze medal in the Fruit Cider category for its Apple Cherry Cider.
Michigan led GLINTCAP among the commercial regions with 194 medals. Washington placed second with 106 medals, Colorado third with 104, New York fourth with 88 and Ontario fifth with 75. California placed ninth with 46 medals.
Black Star Farms was not the only area company to return Best of Class honors in the commercial division from the 2021 GLINTCAP.
Bee Well Mead & Cider in Bellaire took first place in Hopped Cider, beating out 48 other entries with Spy vs. Citra. Bee Well added a second place among 31 entries in Heritage Cider (Sweet) with a Harrison. Bee Well also captured five silver and two bronze medals.
Starcut Ciders, a division of Short's Brewing Company, won first among 12 entries in Unlimited Cider and Perry with Pulsar. It also earned a gold medal in Fruit Cider with Squishy, and a silver and a bronze.
Tandem Ciders in Suttons Bay took second in Modern Cider (Dry) with Green Man. There were 142 entries in that category, including one from Vander Mill in Grand Rapids that won first place. Tandem Ciders also earned gold in Heritage Cider (Dry) with Earnest, and in Fortified Cider with Pomona. It brought home five silver medals.
Two K Farms earned two gold medals, in Rosé Cider with 2020 Rosé and in Heritage Cider (Sweet) with 2020 Spitzenburg. It also won four silver and four bronze medals.
Left Foot Charley earned a gold in Modern Cider (Dry) with Spitzenburg. It also took home three silver and three bronze medals.
Suttons Bay Ciders won four silvers and a bronze.
Peninsula Cellars won three silver medals and a bronze.
GLINTCAP also announced several Producer of the Year awards. Honored were Bauman's Cider of Oregon (Small Cidermaker of the Year), Uncle John's in Michigan (Midsize), Angry Orchard of New York (Large) and Blue Moon Winery & Cider Works of British Columbia (International).
The event also has a non-commercial division. Among the winners from Michigan were Paul Arends, Jeff Carlson, Jeffrey Cottrell and Keith Kintigh.
The Amateur Cidermaker of the Year was Dylan Cahn of Maryland.
Judges for the event included included cider industry professionals and experts, some Beer Judge Certification Program officials and members of the media, according to a release from Black Star Farms. Entries were judged on "characteristics such as style, level of carbonation, level of sweetness and any special ingredients or processes used in production," according to the release.
Complete results are available at www.glintcap.org.
