Silver Coast Winery of Ocean Isle Beach was awarded a bronze medal for its 2013 Viognier at the 2014 American Wine Society Commercial Wine Competition which was held in Concord on Oct. 28-30.

“Even though we’ve won nearly 400 awards over the past 12 years, we strive to keep improving our product,” said Albert Gomes, Silver Coast wine taster. “Our focus isn’t on the number of medals we earn but on the quality of the wine and how it pairs with food.”

The American Wine Society National Conference has been held annually since 1986. The panel of judges for the AWS Commercial Wine Competition is made up of professionals from the wine industry such as marketers, writers and wine makers. Many are graduates of the AWS's own Wine Judge Certification Program. All wines were judged by blind tasting and panel consensus.   

Silver Coast wines are crafted by winemaker Dana Keeler who has been with the company since 2004. Keeler has over 35 years of winemaking experience, working previously in Virginia, South Carolina, New York and elsewhere in North Carolina.

Silver Coast Winery, 6680 Barbeque Road, is a full winemaking facility housing an art gallery, gift shops and picnic grounds. The winery hosts weddings and private and corporate parties and has two off-site tasting rooms: one in Southport and one in Charlotte. Over the past 10 years, it has been awarded more than 375 local and international medals.

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