By Jacque Aragon
The 15th annual Mountain Chile Cha Cha — which took place on September 25 and feature music by New Mexico-based Sangre Joven, margaritas by nine local restaurants and bars, and green chile dishes by some of the finest cooks in Archuleta County — is pleased to announce the winners from this year’s competitions.
Here are the Patty Aragon Green Chile Classic Winners 2021.
Home Cooks: Vegetarian
Third Place – Diana Aragon, V6
Second Place – V2 Sarah Saraceno, V2
First Place – Isabelle Herrera, V4
Home Cooks: Meat
Third Place – Jen Pitcher, M26
Second Place – Diana Aragon, M25
First Place – Ron Martinez, M29
People’s Choice
Third Place – James Jolley, V3
Second Place – Colorado Roadhouse, M4
First Place – Malicia Thatcher, M32
This year’s Mountain Chile Cha Cha Margarita contest didn’t disappoint. With a line of anxious tasters, we opened at noon with 15 strong entries by nine local restaurants and bars.
Entries in the Flavored category included: Rosie’s, Kips, Neon Mallard, Gustoso’s, Chavolos, The Den, Riff Raff on the Rio, Riff Raff OG, and Ole Miners.
Six of those — Kips, Neon Mallard, Gustoso’s, Chavolo’s, The Den, and Riff Raff on the Rio — also chose to enter in the Traditional category.
The margaritas this year were assessed by both the public and a panel of three expert judges. Awards were first through third place in both the Traditional and Flavored categories.
Without further ado, the winners were…
Judged Traditional
1st place: T1 by Riff Raff Rio
2nd place: T2 by Kips
3rd place: T3 by the Neon Mallard
Judged Flavored
1st place: F3, Spicy melon margarita by Neon Mallard
2nd place: F5, Tamarindo jalapeño margarita by Chavolos
3rd place: F1, Cucumber strawberry margarita by Riff Raff Rio
People’s Choice Traditional
1st place: T5 by Chavolo’s
2nd place: T2 by Kips
3rd place: T1 by Riff Raff Rio
People’s Choice Flavored
1st Place: F5, Tamarindo jalapeño margarita by Chavolo’s
2nd place: F7, Strawberry green chile margarita by Rosie’s
3rd place: F1, Spicy strawberry cucumber margarita by Riff Raff Rio
Over 3000 tastes were served and around 500 votes were cast. Thank you to everyone that came out and made the event spectacular this year!
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