La Mesa Wins Big at 2024 Peninsula Underground Wine Competition

This week La Mesa received several Gold, Double Gold and Best-in-Class awards at the prestigious 2024 Peninsula Underground "Under the Radar" California wine competition. 

With nearly 5,000 wineries in California, the competition for consumer preferences and loyalty is fierce. The "Under the Radar" award series seeks out great wines made by California producers with a somewhat smaller production. Wines are sampled in blind tastings by an all-volunteer executive plus seven additional reviewers including a Sommelier and WSET certified tasters.

Owner-winemaker Côme Laguë reflects on the achievement. "All these awards follow several years of hard work. As a relatively new winery, we only started entering our wines in major competitions this year. 

"The Zinfandel is the very first of our big bold reds we'll be introducing over the course of this year.  For many years, our club members asked us to make a big bold Zinfandel, a wine often sought out in Amador County, using our winemaking techniques which include Flextank technology, low sulfites and low tannins."

Peninsula Underground writes: "This is what you want in a California Zinfandel. Rich fruit flavors of jammy plum, fig, and blueberry. Black pepper provides a transition to darker fruits, followed by chocolate with smoky undertones. A long, meaty, spicy finish. Just a treasure from beginning to end."

On the Chardonnay: "A deftly-made, layered Chardonnay. Initially shows green apple, pineapple, and banana and builds to lemon and minerality balanced with a touch of crème fraiche. Near endless finish. Crisp notes and warm flavors. Yin and yang. This is evolved Chardonnay-making at its finest."

On the Muscat, they added: "A summer breeze! This dry Muscat Canelli features honey and mango on the nose. Hints of butter combine with green apple highlights in the mouth. Tropical fruits, lovely acidity, crisp and cool on the palate. A versatile, stereotype-busting wine that would pair perfectly with cheeses, nuts, sushi, and anything light and spicy."

Full results from the competition published at the Peninsula Underground website: https://peninsulaunderground.com