The 2008 Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards Program honored its third year program winners on April 30th with a celebratory luncheon in New York City. The menu, specially-created by renowned Chef Craig Koketsu of Park Avenue Spring Restaurant, uniquely showcased the award-winning products, delighting the eyes and palates of over 100 guests, including leading national and local media and top influencers in the food and wine industry. Winning food producers hailed from around the country - Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Washington, Colorado and New York - displaying excellence in culinary craftsmanship with each of their award-winning food products.  

This year, entries flooded in from every inch of the country, with more than 300 applications submitted and over 270 food products sampled for the panel of culinary expert judges to taste. In the end only one entry from each of the seven categories were chosen, making it no easy task for the judges and winemaker, Gina Gallo, to determine! Click here to view a behind the scenes look at how the tasting process works.

As Americans become increasingly attuned to the virtues of wine and food pairing, Gallo Family Vineyards is proud to celebrate this country's rich agricultural and culinary heritage and shine the spotlight on the rising stars in food production.  They created the  Gold Medal Awards program in 2006 to recognize excellence and the highest standards in quality and craftsmanship among artisanal food producers in the United States.

Meet the just announced 2008 winners and navigate the following pages to learn more about  2007 and 2006 previous Gold Medal winners.