The Pennsylvania Winery Association (PWA), which is an advocate for PA’s 400-plus wineries, invited wineries from across the state to submit locally grown and produced vinifera wines and select hybrids for blind judgment by a panel of 20 sommeliers, wine writers, educators and buyers in the region.
The criteria for wines entered required submissions to be at least 75% of the stated Vinifera variety or Hybrid variety (Vidal Blanc and/or Chambourcin), 100% Pennsylvania grown fruit, and wines with less than 1% Residual Sugar.
The sommeliers tasted more than 80 wines submitted from 20 wineries over two rounds of tasting. The morning session included sparkling, white, rosé and red wines with the afternoon session focusing on the top 20 percent of wines that moved on from the first round. All wines were scored based on appearance, aroma & bouquet, taste & texture, after taste, and overall impression. Judges tasted wines blind, but were told of the varietal, vintage and grape varietals used for each wine. The winery name, bottle price and growing region were not disclosed to the judges.
