Judgement

STORY: LUBOMYR LUCIUK   PHOTOS: ANGEL FOTO

County wines score top marks

At the third annual Judgement of Kingston wine tasting event, organized by The Royal Winers with the assistance of Tourism Kingston, locally made wines excelled in comparison to some great wines from British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. An independent panel of judges (Dr. François Bélisle,Nadia Fournier, Geoff Heinricks and Margaret Swaine) scored the 2016 Rosehall Run “JCR” Chardonnay as the top wine in this blind tasting event with the 2014 Keint-He “Greer Road” Chardonnay coming second and British Columbia’s CheckMate Artisanal Winery’s 2014 “Little Pawn” Chardonnay taking third. And the tasting public concurred with the judges’ choices, except for placing Closson Chase’s 2016 “Churchside” Chardonnay in third place, meaning County wines took Silver and Gold and almost got the Bronze.

As part of Judgement of Kingston event, a “silent auction” of wine, luxury gifts and wine related items was held. Proceeds raised are donated to the Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario through the University Hospital’s Kingston Foundation.

Commenting, one of the event’s organizers, Simon Chapelle, said: “County wines are consistently demonstrating just how good they are compared with some very fine wines from other great winemakers and regions around the world. We’re very pleased at how successful this annual event has become, especially as that makes it possible for us to donate even more to a local good cause, the Cancer Centre. We’re very grateful to all of our supporters, guests and judges for making this such a wonderful autumn event.”

Next year’s Judgement (November 2, 2019) will present some of the best pinot noirs from the County being tasted against some of New Zealand’s finest.

For more information about this year’s event and past tastings, visit judgementofkingston.ca