Purgatory Cellars/White Owl Winery Only Non-California Winery in U.S. to Win Medal in Largest Asian Wine Competition

Birds, IL, September 05, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Purgatory Cellars/White Owl Winery, (whiteowlwinery.com) of Birds, Illinois has just been informed that their Persimmon Solera received a bronze medal in the 12th Annual Japan Wine Challenge held July 14th through 16th, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. This competition is the largest and most significant international wine competition in Asia.

Over 1,400 wines from 29 countries were entered, with just over 800 wines winning medals. Only eleven U.S. wineries won medals in this competition. Purgatory Cellars was the only U.S. winery, outside of the state of California to win an award.

Purgatory Cellar’s sherry-type wine is crafted from wild harvested Midwestern persimmons and is the only commercially produced persimmon sherry in the world. The Persimmon Solera has a lush, ripe persimmon flavor, with hints of caramel and butterscotch, finishing on a chest-warming nutty note. It is available for sale throughout the Midwest.

The eleven key judges for this competition are world-renowned for their wine judging abilities. Chairman of this event, Steven Spurrier of the UK, is the man responsible for getting Europe to recognize American wines as actually contenders on the world wine stage. The movie “Bottle Shock,” released late last year, is based on that story. Winners of this competition will be published in the Japan Wine Challenge magazine, on line, at the end of October. (japanwinechallenge.com)

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