Announcing "Best of Class" from
the 2021 New York Wine Classic!

The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF) today announced the "Best of Class" winners of the 35th Annual New York Wine Classic. Judging for The New York Wine Classic was conducted over a 4-month period, from November 1, 2020 - February 15, 2021 and included 607 entries from 96 wineries from across the state.

Known as “The Oscars®” of New York wine competitions, the Classic is organized by the New York Wine & Grape Foundation. New this year, NYWGF partnered with the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) to judge wines submitted from across New York state. A total of 1 Platinum, 138 Gold, 355 Silver, and 104 Bronze medals were awarded by BTI’s trained sensory panel comprised of beverage directors, sommeliers, top bartenders, retail buyers and educators.

As a New York Corporation founded in Ithaca in 1981, Beverage Testing Institute has deep roots with the great state of New York and its wines. Over the last few months we have been privileged to deepen those connections through our partnership with the New York Wine & Grape Foundation and our execution of the 2021 New York Wine Classic. It's difficult to describe the excitement and fulfillment of being a contributing part of this year's Classic. We're proud to have been able to implement processes that are compliant with best practices for labs operating in the COVID-19 era and combine them with our industry-leading methodology to offer a safe evaluation and marketing option for New York's wineries.

Our panelists were thrilled to have had the opportunity to get up close and personal with so many New York wines and discover wineries they were not yet familiar with. And for the wineries that they have known for years, our panelists were delighted to see (and taste!) the progress that young wineries had made and that established wineries had maintained. Though they’re lamenting that this year’s New York panels are over, they’ve all expressed interest in stocking their on-and-off premise accounts with more robust New York offerings. Cheers!
 
- Jerald O'Kennard,  Executive Director, Beverage Testing Institute

“Best of Category” winners, as well as the prestigious Governor’s Cup and Winery of the Year awards will be announced on March 18, 2021 via Zoom, and broadcast live on the Foundation’s Facebook page. The Governor’s Cup, a large silver chalice, recognizes the “Best of Show” or top prize in the New York Wine Classic. The “Winery of the Year” award is presented to the winery with the best overall showing based on the level and number of awards in relation to entries.

“The New York Wine Classic is our largest annual event honoring the best of New York Wines. The pandemic threw us a curveball this year, but thanks to our partnership with BTI, The Classic continues to help New York shine as a truly exciting and innovative wine region,” said Sam Filler, Executive Director, New York Wine & Grape Foundation.

New York Wine Classic winners will also be featured at additional virtual events through the rest of the year. Events will be listed at newyorkwines.org/events as they are confirmed.

Visit our website for the list of “Best of Class” winners. The full list of competition results will be released after the Virtual Awards Ceremony on March 18, 2021.