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Press Releases from Mountain Meadows Mead
For more information, contact the winery @ 530.256.3233
Mountain Winery Wins in International Competition
February 2007
Ron Lunder and Peggy Fulder, proprietors of Mountain Meadows Mead, a boutique winery located in Westwood, recently returned from the 5th International Mead Festival in Denver, Colorado with three more medals to add to their collection. The Festival attracted 107 meads from 35 producers from 7 countries. There were meads from Canada, Denmark, England, Lithuania, Poland, South Africa and from 16 states in the U.S.
Mountain Meadows Mead was awarded the Gold Medal for their Cranberry Mead, which was made with Oregon Cranberries fermented with wildflower honey from Modoc County produced by Beeman Apiaries of Eagleville. The Cranberry Mead has won the Silver Medal and the Bronze Medal in previous competitions.
Mountain Meadows Cherry Mead was awarded the Silver Medal in its category. The Cherry Mead is a semi-dry red wine made with cherries grown by Mead Orchards near Chico, fermented with honey from Honey Lake Valley produced by Richard Schall Apiaries.
Honeymoon Nectar Sweet Honeywine was awarded the Bronze Medal in its category, Sweet Traditional Mead. The Honeymoon Nectar was also made with Modoc wildflower honey produced by Beeman Apiaries. Honeymoon Nectar has won the Gold Medal in its category three times in the previous competitions.
Mountain Meadows Mead has been in production since the fall of ‘95, and is currently marketing seven varieties of honeywines (all produced and bottled in Westwood), selling directly to retailers in California, Oregon and Washington.
3 International medals for 2007 (What would Buddha drink?).
Mountain Meadows Mead at the 2007 Meadfest
Since Mead is 'the Drink of Love' then what better weekend than Valentines weekend to enjoy the world's finest Meads? The International Mead Festival (an event through the International Mead Association) is the worlds' largest and most prestigious mead competition and festival. This event hosts both a public tasting of commercial meads and a private judging of commercial and now homemade mead, entries.
Last year, we came home from the Meadfest with gold, silver, and bronze medals.
Mountain Meadows Mead at the Portland Holiday Ale Fest
2006 provided another excuse for us to spend a 4 day weekend in Portland pouring Mead at the Holiday Ale Fest.
We were busy, pouring over 8,000 ounces of Mead over about a 36 hour period!
Thanks to all of our Portland fans for their support at this event.
Thanks to Leon Havill - The original "Mazer" for this quote.
Our Meads at the Holiday Ale Fest.
Recent Oakland Tribune Review of Mountain Meadows Mead 'Trickster's Treat Agave Honeywine'Finding a mead for all seasons
By William Brand , STAFF WRITER - Oakland Tribune
I'm not a religious person, although I can't look into
the heavens on a starry night without wondering what
our existence means. But I love and embrace tradition
and one tradition my family tries to keep is observing
the dietary rules of Passover.
That means, among other things, no beer.
Most years, I just wait for the eight days of Passover
to end. But this year, I had an inspiration: What
about mead? Mead is fermented honey, there's no grain
involved. Humankind's oldest alcoholic drink, there
are references in the Bible, and both the Greeks and
the Vikings drank mead.
That's tradition. Problem is, I've always found mead
too sweet. It is, after all, honey from bees,
fermented usually with a wine yeast.
But this year, I found a mead I really like. It's
Mountain Meadows Trickster's Treat Agave Mead ($7.99/
14 oz. bottle) made by Meadmasters Ron Lunder and
Peggy Fulder, a husband and wife team, in Westwood, a
hamlet in the Sierra not far from Susanville. It's won
prizes in many mead contests.
This is a mead of a different stripe: dusky golden
color, floral, honeyed nose. It's 13 percent alcohol.
But the taste is a shocker. It's quite dry, just a
faint sweetness with a taste that strongly reminds me
of mezcal.
Mezcal is the raw, high-powered liquor distilled in
Mexico from the fermented heart of the maguey or agave
plant. By Mexican law, only mezcal made with over 50
percent blue agave in towns around Jalisco state can
be called tequila.
The trouble with mezcal/tequila is it can be
head-bangingly potent. It's about 40 percent alcohol
by volume, and the effects tend to hang around.
Trickster's Treat delivers that unmistakable
mezcal-like flavor — balanced by faint honey notes —
without the high alcohol. Ron Lunder says Trickster's
is a blend of organic agave nectar from Jalisco, local
honeys and water, with proportions adjusted for
sweetness.
The blend is cooked over low heat, then fermented for
three weeks with wine yeast, followed by about three
months aging.
Mountain Meadows, which has been in business since
1992, makes several meads, some sweet, some spicy.
Many can be found in East Bay specialty stores. Dona
Tomas, a restaurant at 5004 Telegraph Ave., Oakland,
sells Trickster's by the glass. The restaurant also
uses it in its sangria — which makes it unusual
indeed.
William Brand publishes What's On Tap, a consumer
craft beer and hard cider newsletter. His column runs
bi-weekly. You can e-mail him at whatsontap@value.net
or call him at (510) 915-1180.
Mountain Meadows Mead wins 3 Medals at International Mead Festival.
February, 2006
Mountain Meadows Mead, a boutique California winery specializing in honeywines and fruit wines, recently won three medals at the 2006 International Mead Festival. The Festival, held in Boulder, Colorado, attracted 96 entries (in 10 categories) from 30 wineries from 6 countries. This was the largest competition and tasting for commercially-produced meads, with the most experienced panel of mead judges ever assembled. Medals went to wineries from Australia, Canada, Poland, South Africa and the United States.
Honeymoon Nectar Sweet Honeywine won the Gold Medal in the Traditional Mead category. This product has won its category at the Mead Festival three times in the last four years. Trickster's Treat Agave Mead, made from organic Agave Nectar and Wildflower Honey, won the Silver Medal in the Specialty Mead category for the second time in three entries. And our Cranberry Mead won a Bronze Medal in the Melomel (fruit mead) category. With a Silver Medal at the 2002 International Mead Festival, the Cranberry Mead has also won two medals in three entries.
As Vicky Rowe, mead judge and owner of the web site GotMead.com observed, "The quality of the meads judged was phenomenal. Only one gold, silver and bronze medal was awarded in each category. So to win a gold medal means the mead is considered the best commercial example of that style in the world."
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Mountain Meadows Mead Tasting Notes Online.
July, 2005
Matt Maples of Liquid Solutions has reviewed many of our products on his Website. You can check out his comments and tasting notes at www.liquidsolutions.biz (click on the "Mead Hall" menu).
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Mountain Meadows Mead at the International Beer Festivals
July, 2005
Mountain Meadows Meads will be featured at this year's Seattle and Portland International Beer Festivals!
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Mountain Meadows Mead wins Gold Medals at International Mead Festival
Mid-November, 2004
The International Mead Festival 2004, held on November 5 & 6 in Boulder, Colorado attracted 88 entries in 9 categories from 32 producers from 7 countries. This was the largest collection of meads assembled for an event in recent history.
Mountain Meadows Mead, a unique boutique winery located in Lassen County in Westwood, California, won the Gold Medal in the Traditional Mead category with their Honeymoon Nectar Sweet Honeywine. This category was the most competitive, with 22 entries, including entries from France, England, Canada and the U.S. Mountain Meadows Mead also won the Gold Medal in the Metheglin (Spiced Mead) category with their Spice Nectar. Both meads also won the Gold Medal in their category at the International Mead Festival 2002 in Chicago.
Ron Lunder and his wife Peggy Fulder established Mountain Meadows Mead in 1995. They are currently producing eight varieties of honeywine and are marketing in California, Oregon, Washington and on the Internet. They specialize in production of premium honeywines and fruit wines made with honey.
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Agave Mead wins Silver Medal at Boulder
November, 2003
Trickster's Treat Agave Mead from Mountain Meadows Mead won a silver medal in the Specialty Mead category at The 2003 International Mead Festival held on October 24 & 25 in Boulder, Colorado. This event attracted entries from Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand and Poland as well as from the U.S.
This Agave Mead was made from wildflower honey and an organic Agave Nectar that was imported from Jalisco, Mexico. Agave is commonly known as the Tequila plant because Tequila is distilled from fermented Agave Nectar. This unique mead has a pleasing golden amber color and is finished in a semi-dry style, with smoky and earthy flavors from the Agave and a smooth finish from the wildflower honey.
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Westwood Winery Wins Top Awards at Chicago Show
December 2002
Three meads from Mountain Meadows Mead, a unique micro-winery located in Westwood in the northern Sierra, won top awards at the 2002 Chicago International Mead & Cider Competition. This competition attracted 41 meads from wineries from thirteen states and from England and Poland. The Traditional Mead category was the most competetive with 19 entries.
Honeymoon Nectar, a sweet honeywine, was judged Best Traditional Mead. This batch of Honeymoon Nectar was made from honey produced in the Honey Lake Valley near Susanville by Gordon Peterson.
Spice Nectar, a mead mulled with ginger and tropical spices, was judged Best Metheglin (Spiced Mead). The Spice Nectar was made from clover honey produced by the Honeyrun Honey Company in Chico.
Mountain Meadows Cranberry Mead, a light dessert wine, won Second Place in the Melomel (Fruit Mead) category. The Cranberry Mead was made from Oregon cranberries and Honeyrun Clover Honey.
Meadmakers Ron Lunder and Peggy Fulder flew to Chicago for the event. They enjoyed tasting some world class meads and ciders and meeting and talking shop with other meadmakers.
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Breaking News - Mountain Meadows Mead Wins Big at Planet Buzz!
November 13, 2002
Mead makers battle in Chicago for top honors in honeywine showcase.
America’s meadmakers sent their wares to Chicago recently for the first international competition of honey wines held during Planet Buzz!, a celebration of mead and cider. A total of twelve awards were given across four categories of mead with nine different producers earning accolades. Mountain Meadows Mead, the only producer to win more than one award, took home a total of three, including two firsts and a second.
At the top of Mountain Meadows Mead’s accomplishments was the first place showing with "Honeymoon Nectar" in the Traditional Mead category, the most competitive classification with 19 entries. Their "Spice Nectar" took first place in the Metheglin (spiced mead) and Specialty category and their "Cranberry Mead" captured second place in Melomel (fruit mead). Full results of the competition and judge comments are given on the attached sheet.
"We were thrilled to win top awards for our most popular products," said Ron Lunder, founder and meadmaker at Mountain Meadows. "We hope that this recognition will help us with marketing and help us to secure wider distribution." Lunder added that the festival offered a great opportunity to taste some marvelous meads and ciders and to meet and "talk shop" with other meadmakers, both professional and amateur.
Veteran beer judge and competition organizer Ray Daniels created the Planet Buzz event and the associated competition. "We are very pleased with the results of the mead judging in this first-time competition," said Daniels of the blind tasting. "Three different panels of judges selected products from the same producer for top awards. That kind of consistency is what you expect from knowledgeable and competent evaluators."
Judging was supervised by Master Judge Jeffrey Sparrow and conducted by a team of nine independent and experienced mead and cider makers and judges, many of whom are also highly ranked in the judge certification program. All judging was blind so that the judges had no idea of the identity of the brand or maker. Judges came from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Colorado.
Polish meads took home two awards with products entered by their US importer, Stawski Distributing Co., Inc. of Chicago. "Jadwiga" from Apis in Lublin, Poland finished second in Traditional Mead behind Mountain Meadows and then the tables were reversed with "Koronny" from Milejow beating out Mountain Meadows to grab first place in Melomel.
On the cider side of the competition, Bulmer’s was the big winner, taking home the first and third place awards with Woodchuck Raspberry and Woodchuck Pear respectively. The Boston Beer Company took second place with Hardcore Traditional Cider.
Take Flight!
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Mountain Meadows Mead Supports Local Land Conservation
Mountain Meadows Mead is a founding and sustaining member of the Mountain Meadows Conservancy - a non-profit organization dedicated to improving wildlife habitat and public access to the Mountain Meadows area, near our winery in Westwood, California. Read more...
Order directly from the winery! Call 530.256.3233 or email us.
Mountain Meadows Mead - Box 1199 Westwood,
California 96137
Ron Lunder & Peggy Fulder, Meadmakers.
meadman@citlink.net
(530) 256-3233
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