Business & Tech
Silver Decoy Winery Makes Top 10 at Judgement of Princeton Competition
The event, held at Princeton University, was set up like the 1976 "Judgement of Paris" competition.
Silver Decoy Winery took home fourth place among white wines and eighth place in reds at the “Judgment of Princeton” wine competition on June 8 at Princeton University.
The competition awarded France the top honor in the white wine chardonnay and red wine category, but three New Jersey Chardonnays placed second through fourth in the competition, according to the Garden State Wine Growers Association.
The competition was part of the four-day American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE) conference.
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“The results hardly tell the whole story," Orley Ashenfelter, president of the AAWE and a professor of economics at Princeton University, said in a news release. "The judging was so close that, statistically, there were virtually no significant differences in the rankings. Therefore, if the competition were held again, there is a high probability the rankings would change due to how close the wines were judged.”
Like the 1976 “Judgment of Paris,” nine judges blind tasted six wines from New Jersey and four French wines in each of the categories. The criteria for the white wine was that it had to be 100 percent Chardonnay and the red wine, which had to be grown in New Jersey, had to be a blend of Bordeaux grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.
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“New Jersey wines can play with the big ones,” AAWE Vice President Karl Storchmann in a news release. He is also managing editor at the Journal of Wine Economics and Clinical Professor of Economics at New York University.
The event was organized by former Journalist George Taber and AAWE. Taber covered the 1977 “Judgment of Paris” for TIME Magazine and wrote a book on it.
Below are the rankings of the Judgment of Princeton:
Rank
WHITES
1
Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos Mouches 2009
FRA
2
Unionville Chardonnay 2010
NJ
3
Heritage Chardonnay 2010
NJ
4
Silver Decoy "Black Feather" Chardonnay
NJ
5
Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet
FRA
6 tied
Bellview Chardonnay 2010
NJ
6 tied
Domaine Macr-Antonin Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2009
FRA
8
Amalthea Cellars Chardonnay 2008
NJ
9
Ventimiglia Chardonnay 2010
NJ
10
Jean Latour-Labille Meursault-Charmes Premier Cru 2008
FRA
Rank
REDS
1
Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 2004
FRA
2
Chateau Haut-Brion 2004
FRA
3
Heritage Estate Reserve BDX 2010
NJ
4
Chateau Montrose 2004
FRA
5
Tomasello Cabernet Sauvignon "Oak Reserve" 2007
NJ
6
Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2004
FRA
7
Bellview Lumiere 2010
NJ
8
Silver Decoy Cabernet Franc 2008
NJ
9
Amalthea Cellars Europa VI 2008
NJ
10
Four JG's Cabernet Franc 2008
NJ
Wine Judges:
Jean–Marie Cardebat, Professor of Economics, Université de Bordeaux
Tyler Colman, DrVino.com
John Foy, Wine Columnist The Star Ledger; www.thewineodyssey.com
Olivier Gergaud, Professor of Economics, BEM Bordeaux Management School
Robert Hodgson, owner, Fieldbrook Winery, CA
Linda Murphy, co-author of American Wine; Decanter
Danièle Meulders, Professor of Economics, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Jamal Rayyis, Gilbert & Gaillard Wine Magazine
Francis Schott, Stage Left Restaurant, New Brunswick; RestaurantGuysRadio.com
Ex officio:
Mark Censits, Cool Vines Wine & Spirits
George Taber, Block Island, RI
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