TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy today announced the 2021 Governor’s Cups and Best of Show winners among New Jersey wineries. The featured winners were selected from the 2021 Garden State Wine Growers Association competition and judged by the Beverage Testing Institute. The state has American Viticultural Areas suited for grape-growing, including the Central Delaware Valley AVA, the Warren Hills AVA, the Outer Coastal Plain AVA and the Cape May Peninsula AVA.

Fox Hollow Vineyards, Holmdel – 2020 Autumn Harvest Dessert Wine, Best New Jersey Sweet Wine 2021 – 87 points The Royal Adelaide Wine Show committee and RA&HS should be commended for persevering and holding a complete competition,” she said.In addition to Cana Vineyards’ winning wine, the 2019 Unitè Reserve, the wines voted into the Governor’s Cup Case include: Trump Winery (4) — 2015 Brut Reserve, 2015 Sparkling Rosé, 2016 Blanc de Blanc & 2019 New World Reserve Notably missing from the Governor’s Cup’s 127 gold medal winners were examples of “Virginia’s Signature Grape,” the Viognier. Only one—a 2020 Viognier from King Family Vineyards—took home the gold in this year’s competition, marking an interesting omission in favor of the Meritage blends. Excited to be on the gold list again were Brix and Columns Vineyards (seen top right) owners Steve and Stephanie Pence with their team for their 2020 White Brix. Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyard also took more golds for their 2019 Bundoran Blue, 2019 Petit Verdot and 2020 Petit Manseng, while Winemaker Lee Hartman of Bluestone Vineyards enjoyed sharing his prized gold medal wines, 2017 Blue Ice, 2017 Cabernet Franc and 2017 Valley Red. Out of the 12 wines selected for the 2022 Governor’s Cup Case, seven are Meritage, a name for Bordeaux-style blends. These wines characterize Virginia’s distinctive winemaking ability, marrying the prestige and sophistication of the old world with the daring and fearlessness of the new. Elegant white varietals of Chardonnay, Vermentino, Albariño, a sparkling and a dessert wine rounded out this year’s Case.

Ms Rose said the judging panel tasted between 100 and 120 wines per day, with panels often revisiting 20 to 30 percent of each class with fresh pours and discussion. I’m proud to celebrate our growing viticulture industry,” said Governor Murphy. “The wineries recognized from all across the state produce some of the finest wines in the world, and we’re committed to continue supporting our small business community to build a stronger, fairer New Jersey economy.” This is not Natoli’s first encounter with critical acclaim. Since joining Cana Vineyards in 2015, she has produced several award-winning wines, and in 2017, she became the first Virginia winemaker to be named Winemaker of the Year at the Women’s International Wine Competition. After receiving nominations for Virginia Winery of the Year four years in a row, the winery’s recognition in the 2022 Governor’s Cup Case verifies what fans of the winery already know: under Natoli’s skilled hands, the wines produced at Cana Vineyards are some of the best around. The Commonwealth is home to 10 wine regions, which include more than 300 wineries and over 4,000 acres of grapes.

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Adelaide Hills wineries also performed well in the white wine classes, including Deviation Road who won the trophy for Best Sparkling (Beltana Blanc de Blancs 2013), Riposte Wines who won the Sauvignon Blanc class with The Foil 2020, and Wines by Geoff Hardy who took out the Best Other Varietal White class with their Gruner Veltliner 2019. The 40th Governor’s Cup competition received a record-breaking number of entries, with submissions of 615 wines from over 100 Virginia wineries. Twenty-five cider- and wine-tasting experts served as the panel of judges. Over 10 days, the judges sampled the entries, scoring them in a single-blind tasting where they knew the grape or category of the wine but not the winery, name or vintage. Finally, after dropping the lowest scored wines, the judges averaged the scores for each wine. Wines with 90–100 points won gold medals, 85–89 points won silver, and 80–84 points received a bronze medal. New Jersey wines have received critical acclaim in national and international competitions like the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. They’ve also garnered praise in major publications like Wine Enthusiast and Wine Advocate. Barboursville Vineyardswas honored to be included in the Case for their 2020 Vermentino Reserve. Above, Barboursville Winemaker Luca Paschina pours. Also in the case for his 2019 Chardonnay was Michael Shaps, who took the most golds for the year. Barboursville Vineyards (4) — 2018 Paxxito, 2019 Nebbiolo Reserve, 2020 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve & 2020 Vermentino Reserve

The Royal Adelaide Wine Show was one of few wine shows around Australia to proceed in 2020 due to Covid-19.A 2019 Grenache from McLaren Vale and a 2017 Riesling from Eden Valley will take pride of place on the dinner table at South Australia’s Government House after winning the Governor’s Trophies at this year’s Royal Adelaide Wine Show.