Talk-A-Vino

Come May, I start looking for the one specific email. An invitation from Debbie Gioquindo to be the judge at the Hudson Valley Wine and Spirits competition.

Now practically a tradition (which will be ending this year, sigh), it started about 8 years ago when I got this invitation for the first time. Ever since, I’ve always looked forward to the first Saturday in September after Labor Day, to take an 80-mile scenic drive to Rhinebeck, New York, where the Hudson Valley Food and Wine Festival had been held for the past 20 years.
For 18 out of those 20 years, Hudson Valley Wine Competition (expanded in 2011 to include spirits, thus becoming Hudson Valley Wine and Spirits Competition) had been an indelible part of the festival. Wine and spirit producers who are located in the Hudson Valley Region in New York submit their wines and spirits to be evaluated blindly by the judging panel to identify the best wines and spirits produced in the Hudson Valley (if you are interested, you can find all the details here).

Judging wines is always a fun project. We are doing this using the American Wine Society wine evaluation chart, where each wine can be awarded up to 20 points divided into a number of categories. Once individual tasting rounds are done, the best wines are judged together to decide on the best in show and best wine in different categories. If you are curious about the detailed results, here you can find the results from each year the competition has been run, and here are the results from the 2026 competition.

Here is an interesting tidbit. I had been judging wines at the Hudson Valley Wines Competition for a while. All the judging is done in small groups, judging panels (3 people), going through the flights of wines. The only information known about the wines is the grape composition. Sometimes, the same type of wines – for example, Cabernet Franc wines, a flagship red from Hudson Valley, usually judged independently from other reds – can be split between different panels. Here is where the judging process can falter. Judges always reach consensus within a panel when deciding on the scores and awards. But if one of the panels is more forceful than the other (e.g., consistently scoring the wines higher), the end result might be unexpected – the winning wine might not be objectively better (yeah, I know, that sounds bad, wine is subjective, there is nothing objective about wine, and yet this is the only way I can put it) than the wines judged by the less forceful panel… Such was the case this time, but oh well, what’s done is done…

Speaking about my favorites from the wines participating in the 2026 Hudson Valley wine competition, I had a few.

2025 Benmarl Winery Pétillant Naturel of Cabernet Franc, which won the Best Sparkling award, was simply excellent – refreshing, vibrant, and balanced. 2024 Robibero Estate Grown Syrah Hudson River Region was textbook perfect – dark fruit and pepper, a delicious (and my most favorite) expression of the Northern Rhône’s favorite grape. Lastly, 2023 Red Maple Vineyard Ethos, a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, offered an excellent rendition of classic Bordeaux Claret, with cassis and eucalyptus, round and well balanced.

Done with judging, let’s talk about discoveries. One of the fun parts of judging the wines at the Hudson Valley Food and Wine Festival is an opportunity to walk around the floor, taste sauces, jerky, candies, etc. (I have done none of it this year), and taste some wines.

When I saw the stand with the wine from Vermont called Vino Freddo, especially after reading the list of grape varieties in the wine (62% Petite Pearl, 12% Marquette, 10% Crimson Pearl, 9% L’Acadie Blanc, 7% St. Pepin), I basically had two competing thoughts: “I must try it, there are at least 5 grape varieties I never tasted before, a great opportunity to advance the lovely grape counter” and “ohhh, this can’t be good…”. So the first thought prevailed, and upon the first sip, another thought floated up “hmmm, this is not bad at all!”. I spoke with Andy Farmer, who made this wine, and he explained that his inspiration for this wine was drawn from the Italian heritage, and Sicily in particular, with the goal of creating a red BBQ wine that can be drunk chilled – and I have to say that the mission was successfully accomplished with the grapes, which can actually grow well in the cold climate. I liked the wine enough to even get the bottle for home, and I plan to enjoy it when the summer comes back.

As I continued walking around the floor, I saw another winery stand, and a reprint of the winemaker interview published by Carl Giavanti – those interviews are well recognizable, as Carl uses the Prisma app (or similar) for the picture processing, which gives it a very distinct look. Drawn by the interview, I had to stop by and meet the “subject” of the interview – winemaker Kyle Mizuno – and taste his wines.

I started with two Rosé wines, both of which were interesting. 2023 Rolling Hills Sabrevois Rosé had a color of light red wine, not much of a pink – this was not my favorite (this wine was not made by the previous winemaker at Rolling Hills). 2025 Rolling Hills Estate Rosé had pretty much the same color (light ruby, if anything), but was a bit more round and drinkable. I also tried 2024 Rolling Hills Marquette, which was a serious wine – dark, brooding, focused, and powerful. After tasting Kyle’s wines, I decided that I should probably do an interview of my own. Kyle graciously agreed, and you should expect to see it soon.

That’s the end of my story about judging and discovering wines (and new grapes!). Until the next time…