The white wine winners, including our 2009 New York State White Wine of the Year
By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief
Photos by Morgan Dawson Photography
As I mentioned earlier today, we tasted 54 wines (a shipping snafu meant that one didn't arrive in time) in 19 flights. For the most part, the wines really showed extremely well
We blind tasted through each regional flight within a category (sparkling, white, red and dessert), voting on a winner in each. The winners, sorted by region are:
Chautauqua-Lake Erie White Wine: Vetter Vineyards NV Riesling
Finger Lakes Sparkling Wine: Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars 1999 Prestige Cuvee
Finger Lakes White Wine: Billsboro Winery 2008 Riesling
Finger Lakes Red Wine: Heart & Hands Wine Company 2007 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir
Finger Lakes Dessert Wine: Anthony Road Wine Company 2008 Riesling Berry SelectionHudson River Region Sparkling Wine: Clinton Vineyards NV Jubilee
Hudson River Region White Wine: Millbrook Vineyards 2008 Tocai Friulano
Hudson River Region Red Wine: Millbrook Vineyards 2007 Block Five East Pinot NoirLong Island Sparkling Wine: Sherwood House Vineyards 2004 Blanc de Blanc
Long Island White Wine: Paumanok Vineyards 2008 Chenin Blanc
Long Island Red Wine: Wolffer Estate Vineyards 2005 Christian's Cuvee Merlot
Long Island Dessert Wine: Paumanok Vineyards 2008 Late Harvest RieslingNiagara Escarpment White Wine: Eveningside Vineyards 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay
Niagara Escarpment Red Wine: Freedom Run Winery 2008 Estate Pinot Noir
Niagara Escarpment Dessert Wine: Leonard Oakes Estate Winery 2008 Vidal Ice Wine
After tasting each regional flight within a category, the winners from each region were then re-tasted together before any of the wines' identities were revealed. If the judges were unanimous in their voting in these "championship rounds" we also selected a New York State wine of the year within a category.
That happened once, with Billsboro Winery 2008 Riesling earning every judge's vote in the white wine championship flight, making it our 2009 White Wine of the Year for New York State.
Congratulations to all of the winners. Look for a few more posts about the tasting results, including a post from Evan on the Billsboro Winery 2008 Riesling later today and a post that I'm writing about the surprise of the tasting for me — pinot noir winning three of the four regional flights.