Nation’s Longest Running Burger Contest Announces Finalists To Compete In The 2015 Sutter Home Build A Better Burger® Contest

St. Helena, Calif., March 16, 2016 – Sutter Home Family Vineyards, one of America’s favorite wine brands, just revealed the five finalists’ recipes to compete for the 2015 Build a Better Burger® Recipe Contest and $25,000 grand prize. With lavish additions like cashew bacon crumble, caramelized sauerkraut and pickled saffron pears, Sutter Home Build a Better Burger® Recipe Contest entrants continue to elevate the quintessential American burger.

Family-owned since 1948, Sutter Home is proud to be an American success story and a household name for wine lovers across the globe. In 1990, Sutter Home uncorked the wine industry’s first major recipe contest: Build a Better Burger®. There were 20 contestants at the first Build a Better Burger® Recipe Contest cook-off in 1990, and the $10,000 Grand Prize went to a retired army colonel from Virginia named Jim Pleasants for his Napa Valley Basil-Smoked Burger. By the mid-1990s, Build a Better Burger® became one of America’s most popular recipe competitions, a fact confirmed by its inclusion, in 1998, in a 26-segment PBS show on cooking contests called “Cookoff America.” In 2003, Build a Better Burger® was featured on the first season of Food Network Challenge, a competitive cooking television series that aired on the Food Network.

For the 2015 Sutter Home Build a Better Burger® Recipe Contest, burgers will be judged on taste, creativity, ease of preparation, and availability of ingredients. The action will unfold on May 19, 2016 at the winery’s state-of-the-art culinary center in St. Helena, California. Each of the 2015 finalists’ burgers will be prepared by Sutter Home’s culinary team and tasted by a

panel of esteemed judges. The winning recipe will be announced on the Sutter Home Build a Better Burger® website and Facebook page on or about May 20, 2016. In addition to the grand prize, all finalists will receive $1,000 towards the purchase of Weber® products. Voting for the People’s Choice Award will take place on www.sutterhome.com, beginning on April 1, 2016. The People’s Choice Award winner will receive a cash prize of $5,000.

Building on Sutter Home’s history of creating fun and exciting moments for its consumers, the 2015 Sutter Home Build A Better Burger® Recipe Contest will feature special surprises including unique twists on America’s favorite meal and the Grand Prize Winner for the Best Burger, who will receive a cash prize of $25,000. “The idea behind Build a Better Burger® has always been to take America’s favorite wines and pair them with America’s favorite food—the burger,” explained Wendy Nyberg, Vice President of Marketing for Sutter Home. “Passionate everyday cooks don’t hesitate to experiment with flavors, and we love to see that creativity in the burger recipe entries as well as wine pairings.”

If everyday cooks didn’t get a chance to enter the 2015 contest, the 2016 recipe contest kicks off on March 31, 2016. Recipes can be entered at www.sutterhome.com.

The five 2015 recipes and finalists competing for $25,000 include:

Jamaican Rum Jerk Burgers
With Rum-Cola glaze, Jicama Cilantro Slaw and Jerk Mayonnaise
Recipe by Ashley Lyth, Brooklyn, New York Suggested Wine Pairing: Gewürztraminer

Sweet & Smoky Spanish Beef Burgers
With Pickled Saffron Pears, Crispy Prosciutto and Smoky Paprika Aioli
Recipe by Phyllis O’Shaughnessy, Naperville, IL Suggested Wine Pairing: Zinfandel

A Little Heat Pineapple Pork Burgers
With Cashew Bacon Crumble and Creamy Caraway Slaw
Recipe by Meredith Frye, Waverly, AL Suggested Wine Pairing: Riesling

Garam Masala Lamb Burgers
With Sweet Dates and Salty Bacon Lardons
Recipe by Lily Julow, Lawrenceville, GA Suggested Wine Pairing: Gewürztraminer

Bratty Patty Pork Burgers
With Caramelized Sauerkraut and Curry Ketchup
Recipe by Julie Merriman, Seattle, WA Suggested Wine Pairing: Zinfandel

Promotional partners of the 2015 Sutter Home Build a Better Burger® retail promotion include Weber-Stephen Products LLC, Alexia®Foods, The National Pork Board, PopChips®, Dole® Packaged Foods, and KC Masterpiece®.

Promotional partners of the 2016 Sutter Home Build a Better Burger® retail promotion include Weber-Stephen Products LLC, Bubba Burger®, KC Masterpiece® BBQ Sauce, Cape Cod® Chips, Dole® Packaged Foods, Mezzetta® Deli Sliced Peppers, Blue Rhino® Propane, and Scripto® Lighters.

For additional information on the contest or to access past Sutter Home Build a Better Burger® recipes, along with wine pairing suggestions, visit www.sutterhome.com.

Finalist recipes, photos of the finalist burgers, and Sutter Home Bottle Shots can be accessed at the following links:

Finalist Burger Recipes Finalist Burger Photos Sutter Home Bottle Shots

About Sutter Home

When the Trinchero family bought the Sutter Home Winery in 1948, they had a vision, a passion, and an insight into consumer tastes. In the early 1970s, Sutter Home started a trend when the company created White Zinfandel, introducing a new, sweeter flavor profile that changed the way Americans enjoyed wine by offering high-quality varietals at an affordable price. By the 1980s, Sutter Home became a household name and the second largest independent, family-run winery in the United States. In 2005, the winery was the first to produce the groundbreaking single-serve and 187ml in lightweight plastic bottles. Sutter Home continues to evolve with consumers’ tastes and offers more than 25 different varietals to choose from. For more information visit www.SutterHome.com.

Media Contacts:

Elizabeth Hooker, Senior Director of Communications for Trinchero Family Estates
[email protected]
707-294-7117

Carissa Abazia, Assoc. PR Manager for Trinchero Family Estates
[email protected]
707-321-7019