Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association Announces the Results of the 2011 Hudson Valley Wine Competition

Poughkeepsie, NY , September 12, 2011: The Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, New York was the setting for the 2011 Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition. This competition highlights the Hudson Valley Regions wines & spirits and the growing interest the public has for them. The competition was open to all commercial wineries & distilleries in the Hudson Valley AVA using New York State fruit, but more exclusively, Hudson Valley fruit. This was the first year the competition introduced the spirits category.

The wines were judged by a panel of 13 distinguished wine experts that included: Bill Radner, Sommelier & Wine Director for Xaviar’s Restaurant Group; Christopher Matthew, Manhattan-based media communications & public affairs specialist and independent wine writer; Bob Brink, Fine Wines Manager at Arlington Wine & Liquor; F. Paul Pacult, Publisher/editor of F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal, contributing editor for Beverage Dynamics, and author; Steven Kolpan, Professor of Wine Studies at The Culinary Institute of America; Ramon Mira de Orduna, Associate Professor of Enology at Cornell University; Stephanie Mira de Orduna, WSET Certified and wine buyer; Bill Dowd, Author and Editor. Developer of Dowd's Guides, a portfolio of online sites dealing with food, drink and destinations; Ned Towle, Founder and Director of the Westchester Wine School; Mary Cressler, Certified Sommelier, Wine Location Specialist and proprietor of Vindulge Wine Education & Consulting; Stephen Carrizzo, Wine Philosopher and e-commerce developer for Mid Valley Wine & Liquors; Jay Roelof, Director of Education and buyer of New York, German and Sparkling Wines for Suburban Wines & Spirits. To read more about the judges click here.

Eighty Five wines and 5 spirits made in the Hudson Valley were entered in the competition. This year we also included a Winery of the Year category. The Winery of the Year is presented to the winery that had the best overall showing based on the number of awards in relation to entries. The winery’s overall number of gold medals is taken into consideration and they have to submit at least three wines for judging.

The winners of the 2011 Hudson Valley Wine Competition

Winery of the Year - Millbrook Vineyards & Winery

Best in Show - Bashakill Vineyards 2010 Black Bear, Cabernet Franc

Best Overall Hudson Valley Wine (made with Hudson Valley Fruit) - Clinton Vineyards Jubilee

Best Sparkling - Clinton Vineyards Jubilee

Best in Category - White Wine - Millbrook Vineyards & Winery 2009 Proprietor's Special Reserve Chardonnay

Best in Category - Red Wine - Bashakill Vineyards 2010 Black Bear, Cabernet Franc

Best Spirit - Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Baby Bourbon

Double Gold Medals went to Bashakill Vineyards 2010 Black Bear, Cabernet Franc; Clinton Vineyards Jubilee and Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Baby Bourbon.

Gold Medals were awarded to Hudson-Chatham winery for their 2008 Chelois, and their Paperbirch Highlands Raspberry; Millbrook Vineyards & Winery 2009 Proprietor's Special Reserve Chardonnay; Oak Summit Vineyard 2010 Chardonnay; Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Four Grain Bourbon.

Silver Medals were awarded to Bashakill Vineyards 2010 Coyote, 2010 Blue Heron; Benmarl Winery 2009 Slate Hill White, 2010 Cabernet Franc; Brookview Station Winery 2010 All Aboard, Whistle Stop White, Sunset Charlie; Brotherhood, America's Oldest Winery 2008 Merlot, Ruby Port; Catskill Distilling Peace Vodka; Clearview Vineyard 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010 Vidal Blanc; Clinton Vineyards Romance, Seyval Naturel; Glorie Farm Winery 2010 Red Monkey, 2010 Black Currant; Hudson-Chatham Winery 2008 Empire Reserve Red, 2010 North Creek Block Seyval Blanc; Magnanini Farm Winery 2010 Seyval Blanc, 2010 Rosso Da Tavola; Millbrook Vineyards & Winery 2007 Proprietor's Special Reserve Cabernet Franc; Robibero Winery 2010 87 North, 2008 Pinot Noir; Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Manhattan Rye Whiskey, Hudson NY Corn Whiskey, Heart of the Hudson Vodka; Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery 2010 Reserve Chardonnay.

Bronze Medals were awarded to Bashakill Vineyards - 2010 Dragon Fly, Lemberger; Benmarl Winery 2009 Merlot, 2009 Cabernet Franc, 2010 Slate Hill Red, 2010 Baco Noir, 2009 Frontenac, 2010 Catuwba; Brimstone Hill Vineyard 2010 Vidal Blanc, 2010 Noiret, 2010 Cayuga White; Brookview Station Winery Pomona, Oh What a Pear, Just Peachy, Scarlotta Bing; Brotherhood, America's Oldest Winery 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 Pinot Noir, Grand Monarque; Clearview Vineyard 2010 Estate Noiret; Clinton Vineyards 2009 Tribute, Cassis, Nuit; Glorie Farm Winery 2007 Cabernet Franc; Hudson Chatham 2008 Merlot, 2009 Baco Noir Reserve-Casscles Vineyard; Magnanini Farm Winery 2009 Rossa Riserva, Millbrook Vineyards & Winery 2010 Tocai Friuiano; Tousey 2010 Chardonnay, 2010 Cabernet Franc; Tuthilltown Spirits Spirit of the Hudson Vodka; Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery 2010 Riesling, Awosting White.

The Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association mission is to increase the quality and quantity of wine and grape production in the Hudson Valley through education, knowledge, networking and cooperation. The Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association demonstrates and highlights the quality of our regions grapes and wines and growing interest the public has for them and wines from the valley's cool viticultural growing region.

For more information on the Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association visit www.hvwga.com

For an alphabetical listing of wineries and their winning wines click here.

For more information on the wine competition contact Debbie Gioquindo, CSW 914.474.7780

Note From Editor: A special shout out to Debbie Gioquindo on pulling this all together. A lot of planning and work went into revamping the entire competition. A lot of logistics. Congrats to her in a big way!