The London-based International Wine and Spirit Competition has honored Madera's Quady Winery as the U.S. Wine Producer of the Year. Winery owners Andrew and Laurel Quady will travel to England in January to accept the award.

"This is one of the big boys' trophies, because it has international recognition," said Mike Blaylock, Quady Winery's winemaker. "I just found out about it. They only pick one Winery of the Year, and we got it.

"We were just tickled pink about it."

The competition, founded in 1969, honored wineries in 14 countries and international spirits distilleries. The top wine award, the Wolf Blass Trophy for the Winemaker of the Year, went to Australia's McGuigan Wines.

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