By Blake Jackson
The New York Wine Classic is celebrating its 40th anniversary as the state’s leading wine competition, highlighting the quality, creativity, and diversity of New York’s wine industry.
The competition’s highest-rated wine receives the Governor’s Cup, while the winery with the strongest overall performance among its top seven grape-based entries earns the title of “Winery of the Year.”
The event began in the mid-1980s when Jim Trezise, the first director of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, was asked to transform an existing commercial wine competition at the state fair. Trezise relocated the event from Syracuse to New York City, attracting respected wine professionals as judges.
“We held it at the Marriott Hotel at the foot of the World Trade Center,” recalls Trezise. “We invited some of the luminaries at that time, like Kevin Zraly of Windows on the World, who’s the most famous wine educator on the planet. He was a judge.”
Over the years, the competition evolved, including a period when it became the New York Wine and Food Classic. The judging process also changed following the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Foundation partnering with the Beverage Testing Institute to provide a more consistent and objective evaluation process.
“We suspended in-person judging,” Trezise said. “Now we’re partnered with the Beverage Testing Institute, which provides a cleaner analysis of the wines, a more objective analysis.”
Recent winners have included Weis Vineyards in the Finger Lakes, which earned Winery of the Year honors multiple times, and Paumanok Vineyards on Long Island, which received the title in 2021 and 2023.
“The competition gives wineries across the state a way to measure themselves,” the Weis family said. “It helps showcase the quality of New York wines as a whole.”
According to Trezise, the Classic reflects how far New York wines have progressed and celebrates collaboration among growers, winemakers, researchers, and industry supporters.
“Diversity is our strength. Unity is our power,” Trezise has said for years.
The 2026 New York Wine Classic Live Ceremony will take place on August 10, celebrating another year of excellence in New York’s wine community.
Photo Credit: new-york-wine
Categories: New York, General