2 from NY earn 'best of' awards in largest domestic wine test

One way of assessing the viability of a wine competition is by the number of entries it attracts. The just-completed San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition rings in as the nation's largest for domestic wines with 6,850 entries this year.

Of course, it could be argued that it attracts so many entries because it gives out so many awards. But, it also could be argued that it gives out so many awards because it has so many entries to choose from. Your call.

In any event, two New York State wineries emerged from the appraisal of 60 judges with best-of-class awards:

Atwater Estate 2014 Riesling
Merritt Estate Bella Ice

Double Gold medals (unanimous selection by a judging panel) were numerous, including one for Merritt and a "double double" for Penguin Bay:

Penguin Bay Percussion and 2015 Riesling
Merritt Estate Bella Rosa
Anthony Road 2015 Dry Riesling
Bellangelo 2015 Riesling, Gibson Vineyard
Swedish Hill 2015 Riesling
Wagner 2015 Dry Riesling

Gold medals went to 1911 McIntosh Classic Apple Wine; Bellangelo 2015 Dry Riesling; Black Willow 2015 Diamond, and 2015 Bare Cat Blush; Brooklyn Winery 2013 Blanc de Blanc, and 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon; Buttonwood Grove 2015 Riesling; Coyote Moon 2015 LaCrescent, 2015 Concord, and 2015 Niagara; Keuka Spring Vineyards 2015 Riesling Humphreys Vineyards, and 2015 Vignoles; Merritt Estate 2015 Vidal Ice Wine, Edelweiss, and Pinot Grigio; Swedish Bill Blanc de Blanc; and Wagner 2015 Riesling.

You can find the complete list of winners in all categories here but be forewarned. It is immense, so don't be surprised if you end up spending a lot of time on it.

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• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook
• Go here to visit Notes On Napkins 

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