Big Winners at 2015 Classic: Ventosa and Paumanok - Steuben Courier (blog)
This year's Classic included record numbers of wines (858), craft spirits (32), and craft ciders (20) evaluated by 21 experts from around the country and Europe. We also invited 5 non-voting "guest judges" from the New York Wine & Culinary Center, which features only New York wines, to sit in on the panels and taste the broadest array of New York wines anywhere. Other finalists for the Governor's Cup included Swedish Hill Pinot Noir Brut Rose (Best Sparkling Wine), Paumanok 2013 Semi-Dry Riesling (Best White Wine), Lime Berry Winery Bunny Bunny Blush (Best Rose/Blush), and Sheldrake Point 2014 Riesling... Top awards in other categories included Best Limited Production Wine (Young Sommer Winery Dry Riesling, Bernard Vineyard). Specialty Wine Champion (Baldwin Vineyards), Best Spirit (Black Button Distilling Citrus Forward Gin), and Best Cider (Kaneb Orchards St. Lawrence Cider--for the second year in a row. First, the always incredible Welcome Dinner on Monday night, with Baltimore Chef Jerry Pellegrino (one of our judges), Sous-chef Coke Roth of Washington who brings (and grills) a ton of Northwest salmon, and Dr. Bob Small of LA (Dr. Bob's Ice... One prominent California judge even said that he had never rated so many wines as "Gold" in the many competitions he. Source: www.steubencourier.com
