Judges unwind at Calmére Estate Winery

It takes a lot to keep the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition judges away from one of the highlights of the tasting week: the annual celebratory judges dinner held at a local winery. Here, they gather for a wine reception, then sit down for a multicourse feast paired with fine wine after fine wine. It’s a great time to relax, give their partners and guests a peek at the competition glamour, and inevitably, talk more shop with their colleagues.

Yet Sonoma County traffic wasn’t a friend for this year’s particular evening, and it took several hours for the judges’ luxury bus to travel the 68 miles from the competition venue in Cloverdale to the 2020 hosting property, Calmére Estate Winery, in CarnerosNapa.

Yet, not a single person complained. It had been a very long day for the 66 judges from

around the nation, who were tasting, discussing and determining the competition’s winners from nearly 6,700 submissions across more than 1,000 North American wineries.

But these men and women are professionals, and so after arriving at the reception, they dove back into tasting seven more wines paired with elegant charcuterie, cheeses, crackers, nuts and olives. And then they relished an exquisite dinner paired with five more wines.

The Calmére winery team took the delay in stride, too, unflustered even though this was the first time the estate had hosted the annual event, and the property had just opened last March.

Calmére is a sister winery to Tony and Herta

Peju’s Peju Province Winery in Rutherford; their daughters Lisa and Ariana Peju are ownersvintners for the new project that specializes in Pinot Noir in nine different Burgundy clones.

“We had somewhat of an idea what to expect,” Ariana Peju said. “My parents hosted the dinner at Peju in 2006, with Lisa working at the winery in events, and I had just started with the business.”

It was because of that dinner 14 years ago that Lisa and Ariana Peju were eager to host this year.

“My parents completely remembered their dinner,” Ariana Peju said. “They had had such a great time, and they still get wonderful comments from people who attended.”

For the reception, tables were set up around the renovated, expanded space that formerly was Acacia Winery, and guests sipped at each station: 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve ($60), 2016 Cabernet Franc ($70) and the popular 2017 The Experiment ($110), a bold 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was aged 16 months in 100% French, American and Hungarian oak, for layers of vanilla bean, cassis, cedar butterscotch and dark plum.

“The Experiment is such an interesting wine, and not one most judges would get to taste,” Calmére and Peju Director of Winemaking Sara Fowler said. “It’s more of a hand sell, something to talk about.”

Guests also got the opportunity to taste selec