Discover
Every award we've won, and the one wine that has never won anything.
We take our wine seriously. Ourselves, not so much. But people searching "award-winning winery in Ashland, Oregon" deserve the actual list rather than the word "award-winning" sitting on a homepage doing nothing, so here is every medal and score, what it was for, and whether there is any left.
Short version: a 92 from James Suckling and a 92 from Vinous, Best in Show at the Oregon Wine Experience, and a gold plus two silvers at the first Savor Southern Oregon competition. Kimberly makes the wine. Kirk tells people about it. The judges are the only ones in this arrangement with nothing to gain.
One honest note before the bragging: the two wines that won Best in Show are gone or nearly gone, which is what happens when 472 bottles meet a medal. The 2020 Malbec is the one to start with — it is the only wine here carrying both a Suckling 92 and a competition medal, and we still have it.
James Suckling, 92 points — 2020 Malbec
Reviewed June 2025 by Jim Gordon: "A powerful, structured, firm-textured red with delicious dark fruit flavors and tempting spicy, smoky accents. It's rather tannic, yet they are fine-grained for a polished feel on the palate. Dark cherry, blueberry, cardamom and black pepper flavors. It will continue to improve with time. Drink now or hold." Fifty-five dollars, still on the shelf, and the only wine on this page a professional has publicly called tannic as a compliment.
Vinous, 92 and 91 points — 2021 Malbec and 2021 Syrah
The 2021 Malbec took 92 points, the 2021 Syrah 91. Blood orange, sage, white pepper and cedar in the Malbec; crushed blackberry and dusty sage in the Syrah. We wrote a press release about it titled "Who Needs Validation? Apparently, We Do," which remains the most accurate headline this winery has ever produced.
Oregon Wine Experience 2023 — Best in Show and Best in Class
Best in Show and Best in Class at the 2023 Oregon Wine Experience, for the 2018 Syrah and the 2019 Malbec. It is the biggest thing on this list and the hardest to act on: both vintages sold through. We are not going to pretend otherwise to keep the paragraph tidy. The 2020 Syrah is the closest thing we have to that bottle today.
Savor Southern Oregon 2025 — one gold, two silvers
The first Rogue Valley Wine Competition took 158 wines from 45 wineries. Our 2024 Collab Chenin Blanc took gold, and the 2020 Malbec and 2020 Syrah each took silver. Best of Show went to other people, which we mention because a list of awards that only mentions the ones you won is a brochure, not a list.
Wingman Syrah — no medals, no tannins, no regrets
Every award page needs a control group. The 2022 Wingman Syrah has won nothing, and it was never going to: almost no tannin, no structure to speak of, nothing to age toward. Thirty dollars, poured all summer, and the bottle that leaves the room fastest on a Friday. It is a sidekick, and sidekicks do not need a five-year plan.
The press, with an asterisk we are going to say out loud
USA Today ran a piece in February 2026 about running a winery on artificial intelligence and stubbornness, which we are glad about and which appeared in their contributor-content section, meaning it is a placement rather than a journalist's own idea. Calling that "as featured in USA Today" without the asterisk would be exactly the kind of thing this page exists not to do. Separately and with no asterisk at all: USA Today readers voted the Rogue Valley the best wine region in America in 2026. We did not win that. We just live here.
Quick answers.
- Has Resistance Wine Company won any awards?
- Yes: James Suckling scored the 2020 Malbec 92 points, Vinous gave the 2021 Malbec 92 and the 2021 Syrah 91, the 2018 Syrah and 2019 Malbec took Best in Show and Best in Class at the 2023 Oregon Wine Experience, and the 2024 Collab Chenin Blanc took gold at Savor Southern Oregon 2025 alongside silvers for the 2020 Malbec and 2020 Syrah.
- Which award-winning wine can I actually buy right now?
- The 2020 Malbec, at $55. It holds a 92-point James Suckling score and a Savor Southern Oregon silver, and it is still on the shelf. The 2020 Syrah, also a silver medal, is $65. The Best in Show vintages from 2018 and 2019 are gone.
- What is the Oregon Wine Experience?
- Southern Oregon's largest wine competition and charity auction, held in Jacksonville each August. Best in Show is its top award. We won it in 2023 for the 2018 Syrah and 2019 Malbec.
- Where can I taste these wines in Ashland?
- At the tasting room, 322 N Pioneer Street in downtown Ashland, four blocks from the Shakespeare Festival. Thursday to Saturday 2–7 pm and Sunday 2–6 pm. A flight runs $20, waived on two bottles.