New Jersey Wines Shine in San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

New Jersey wines hit the spotlight in the 17th annual San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, held the week of January 13 in Sonoma County, with Sharrott Winery of Winslow Township earning a Double Gold medal for their Wicked port-style wine and 4JGs Winery (Colts Neck), Unionville Vineyards (Ringoes) and Sky Acres (Far Hills) earning gold medals. The event is the largest wine competition of American wines in the world with over 7,000 entries in 2017.

Consumers in New Jersey regularly experience the quality of wines produced by the more than 50 wineries in the state. Wine judges in blind taste test competitions like the prestigious San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition are able to judge wines by category without knowing the origin of the wine, thus eliminating any bias and ultimately scoring the wines based on their overall quality and taste.

Overall in the competition, New Jersey wineries earned 30 medals, including one Double Gold, three Gold, seven Silver medals and 16 Bronze medals against competitors from 28 states in the country.

New Jersey has three American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) for grape growing and the largest; the Outer Coastal Plain AVA in southern New Jersey produced 17 medals from member wineries: Bellview Winery (Landisville), Heritage Vineyard (Mullica Hill), Sharrott Winery (Blue Anchor/Hammonton), and White Horse Winery (Hammonton).

NJ Medal Count:
Sharrott Winery - Double Gold, 3 Silver, 4 Bronze
Bellview Winery - 2 Silver, 5 Bronze
4 JGS Winery - Gold, Bronze
Heritage Vineyards - Silver, Bronze
Old York Cellars - Silver, Bronze
Unionville Vineyard - Gold, Silver, Bronze
White Horse Winery - 2 Silver, 2 Bronze
Sky Acres Winery - Gold, Bronze

Unionville Vineyards earned a gold for their 2014 single vineyard series Chardonnay and a silver for its Single Vineyard Series, Pheasant Hill Vineyard 2013 Syrah; 4JGs Winery scored a gold for their 2014 Chambourcin and Sky Acres a gold for the 2015 Cabernet Franc.

Sharrott Winery earned silver medals for its NV Tango Bordeaux blend, 2015 Chardonnay and 2013 Petit Verdot while Bellview Winery in Landisville won silver for its red blend Capella wine and its white blend Cygnus. Heritage Vineyards in Mullica Hill earned silver for its 2015 limited release white blend of Muscat, Albariño, and Chenin Blanc. Old York Cellars in Ringoes won silver for its 2014 Syrah and White Horse Winery in Hammonton earned silver medals for their 2013 Cabernet Franc and 2015 Chardonnay.

With almost 2,000 acres of New Jersey farmland dedicated to grapevine cultivation, and the state annually ranking in the top 15 in wine production, the Garden State has made its mark in the wine industry. From just a dozen producers 15 years ago, the Garden State now boasts over 50 licensed producers.

The GSWGA is a coalition of nearly 50 wineries and vineyards across New Jersey, dedicated to raising the quality and awareness of the New Jersey wine industry.

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