8th Annual International Cabernet Franc Wine Competition registration will open for Early Bird signups beginning October 1st, 2026.
How will the competition be judged? The event will be a blind tasting using the “Danish System”, sometimes called the group method. Unique to this event, two separate judging stations will be set up. The first will comprise of Professional Judges and the second being the People’s Choice Judges (serious consumers). Each set of Judges will award medals and award Best of Show based on geographic regions and categories. Additionally, each set of judges will select a Grand Sweepstakes winner from a taste off all the Division & Category winners.
Who are the judges? We have invited Tom Bender once again to head up the Professional Judging Panel(s). Tom has headed the California Sierra Foothill Competition for over 35 years, served on California State Fair Judges, is a well-known writer for various wine magazines and teaches at a local college. Other judges slated include Mike Dunne retired food editor, wine columnist for the Sacramento Bee, distinguished judge emeritus at San Francisco Chronicle and other events, Fran Cunniffe a DipWSET and certified Sommelier, Tana Cole winemaker from Sonoma Valley, Napa, Lodi and Calaveras AVA’s and other judges with WSET I, II and III qualifications. People’s Choice Judges are astute individuals with years of experience. All judges are prepared with extensive documentation and profiles on Cabernet Franc’s characteristics from various geographic areas in advance. Each wine is judged on its own terroir characteristics within their respective geographic category/area and not against other regions.
Meet three of our six esteemed Professional Judges, Mike Dunne, Shelly Fitzgerald and Tom Bender.
Mike Dunne has been writing wine stories for 50 years, mostly on California wines but also of wines from his distant travels. For 30 years he was a staff writer and editor for The Sacramento Bee in Northern California. When he retired he was the newspaper’s food editor, wine columnist and restaurant critic. In retirement, he continues to write for various publications and platforms. On the wine-competition circuit he has judged up to 23 competitions in a single year. While locked down during the Covid-19 pandemic, he wrote and published a book about the evolution of the wine trade in the greater Sacramento area: “The Signature Wines of Superior California: 50 Wines that Define the Sierra Foothills, the Delta, Yolo and Lodi.” A native San Franciscan who grew up in the foothill hamlet of Sonora, he resides in Sacramento with his wife Martha, also a wine judge.
Shelly Fitzgerald is the Wine Director at Vinum 55 in Arizona, with more than two decades of experience spanning restaurants, retail, wine education, writing, consulting, and judging. She holds the WSET Diploma (DipWSET), Certified Sommelier (CS), Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), American Wine Expert (AWE), and Italian Wine Scholar (IWS) credentials, and is an Advanced Cava Educator. A longtime WSET educator, Shelly has taught Levels 1 through 3 and currently oversees wine education and programming at Vinum 55. Her experience as a wine judge and writer, combined with extensive travel through wine regions in the United States and internationally, has shaped both her palate and her approachable style of wine education.
Tom Bender is a Sierra foothill resident; and an instructor in the Columbia College Culinary Arts program where he has taught wine and restaurant management related classes for over 45 years. In addition to teaching, he currently is the Sierra Foothill salesperson for Astoria Wine Group, representing over 25 premium wineries. From 2006 to 2024 he managed O’Brien’s Market extensive wine department and popular wine bar in Modesto, CA. Prior to that he managed Columbia’s City Hotel for over 25 years, where he created its award-winning wine list and cellar.
Over the years he has been fortunate to visit most of the world’s most important wine regions including lesser traveled ones such as China, Turkey, and Croatia. Since 1981 he has coordinated the Calaveras County Fair “Sierra Foothill Wine Competition”. He is also a judge at a number of competitions including the CA State Fair, Amador County Fair, the International Cabernet Franc Judging, and Folsom’s Sierra Foothill Judging. Tom has also been a successful home winemaker for over forty years, having won gold medals for wines made by his college class and the “Lost Boys”, a fun group of local Sonora home winemakers.
Registration information will be announced on Thursday, Oct 1st, 2026.
Cheers,
Michael Kelly, Founder of International Cabernet Franc Wine Competition
This year’s co-sponsors are:
Gold – Commemorative Air Museum, Mesa, AZ. https://www.azcaf.org
Gold – John Lilly, Premier Real Estate Advisor, http://www.JohnLillyProperties.com
Silver – D’Vine Bistro & Wine Bar -Mesa, https://www.dvinebistromesa101.com
Silver – VINUM55, Scottsdale https://www.vinum55.com
