Best of Show at 2024 Virginia Mead Cup

We are thrilled to announce that we have received the Best of Show award at the Virginia Mead Cup for our Traditional Sweet Mead, Kenny, as well as several other awards. The Virginia Mead Cup, hosted by Atheling Meadworks in Roanoke, recently held its second Commercial Competition. We are incredibly proud to have won several medals, including the Best of Show, and we can't wait to share the news.

Here's what we brought home from the event:

• KENNY - Gold Medal in the Traditional Mead Category and Best of Show
• BLUEBERRY MOON - Gold Medal in the Fruit Mead Category
• BENEDICT- Silver Medal in the Spiced Mead Category
• FREDERICK- Bronze Medal in the Fruit Mead Category

We would like to express our gratitude to Steve Ausband and Atheling Meadworks for hosting the competition, especially during the challenging weather related to Helene.

Our Meads Bring in Eight Medals in 2023

It's taken me some time to post this article but we had a good competition season last year. When all the dust had settled, we added eight more medals to our overall count.

The big winner for 2023 was Dave, our Rhubarb Wine. Dave won a Silver and a Bronze medal and is proving why he is our customer's favorite fruit wine. Benedict, the Earl Grey Mead, also faired well with two bronze medals.

Here's how we did in 2023.

Fingerlakes Wine and Spirit Competition

• Dave - Silver
• Benedict - Bronze

Great American International Wine Competition

• Annabelle - Bronze
• Dave - Bronze

National Honey Board Mead Crafters Competition

• Benedict - Bronze

Valkyries Horn Mead Competition

• Cordelia - Bronze
• Dryad - Bronze
• Sahara - Bronze

We have chosen not to enter as many competitions in 2024 so this coming year's haul will not be nearly as impressive. Maybe we'll pull a Gold medal out of one of the few we're entering. Here's to hoping.

Make That Seven Medals for 2022

Thorgrim, our dry Blood Orange Mead with Rosemary, brought home a Third Place (Bronze Medal) win in the Specialty category at the 2022 Orpheus Mead Cup, adding a Seventh Medal to our 2022 total. Thorgrim's such an odd duck with a very specific flavor profile that we weren't even sure we wanted to enter it. But we're glad we did.

The Orpheus Mead Cup is an international competition held in Colorado by the Orpheus Pagan Choir. We were up against some heavy hitters from the US as well as Poland.

Sadly, the Meadfest had to be canceled due to circumstances beyond their control, but they went ahead with the judging.

We are very humbled to be recognized for the quality of our Mead making.

Fitzgibbon Meadery Brings Home Six Medals in 2022

We've been busy little bees in the background entering National and International wine and mead competitions with the hopes that someone will like what we make... and we're pleased to announce our results from some of the recent competitions.

The Great American International Wine Competition 2022

The Great American International Wine Competition was held in New York and was open to all wineries both domestic and foreign. Which, of course, meant we were up against a lot of competition. This was primarily a wine competition that had a Mead category. So we sent sent a mead and a wine and were fortunate enough to win two medals.

RYOKO, our Plum Wine, earned a Silver Medal in the Other Fruit Wine Category and KENNY, our Sweet Traditional Mead, won a Bronze Medal in the Mead Category.

The Finger Lakes International Wine and Spirits Competition 2022

Also held in New York, this competition was open to all wineries domestic and foreign. All proceeds from the competition and subsequent events went to benefit Camp Good Days and Special Times, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and families all over the world, whose lives have been touched by cancer and sickle cell anemia.

This was also primarily a Wine Competition so we sent a wine and a mead.

Again, RYOKO, our little Plum Wine Dragon, wowed the judges and we pulled down another Bronze Medal in the Other Fruit Wine Category.

The National Honey Board's Mead Crafter's Competition 2022

 Held in Illinois, this competition, hosted by The National Honey Board, was specific to mead and limited to Meaderies in the United States. Each Meadery was permitted to submit up to five meads for consideration, free of cost, which meant that we were on an equal footing with some of the larger Meaderies that can afford to enter more meads into the paid competitions than our little Meadery.

We sent our five entries and were thrilled to learn that we had impressed enough judges to bring home three medals.

BERRY NICE, our Mixed Berry Mead and LIVID, our Lemon Mead, each won a silver medal; and SIGRID, our Elderberry Mead, won a Bronze Medal.

Stop in and see us the next time you're in the area and see what all the Buzz is about.