Running the Hudson Valley Wine Competition and the Results

For the past 6 or so years I've been behind the Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition.  When I took the realm of this competition it was just wine.  The past two years with the explosion of distilleries in the Hudson Valley we opened up to spirits. This year we had 91 wine entries, 4 cider entries and 10 spirit entries.  I hope in the future to expand on the cider and spirits categories.

I am the chief cook and bottle uncorker for this competition.  I have to rally the troups to enter. I catalog everything in a spreadsheet.  My son has taught me Excel so the results and score keep have gotten much easier.

Once everything is cataloged labels for the bottles and tuits are printed and labeled.

Usually a few days before the competition I sort through all the wine, label them and put them in boxes by flights and panels

Then the day before the competition I head up to the Hudson Valley Wine Festival and set up.  It is usually a one truck load trip.  This year it was a truck and car load.  Good thing my son Michael was around to help me.

Once at the fairground we set up for the first few flights. I want to make it easy on my back room staff, as 8:30am arrival on a Saturday can be difficult.

And then it's competition day.  I do want to thank all the judges and back room staff who volunteer their Saturday to learn about Hudson Valley wine, cider and distilled spirits!  I couldn't do it without the support of my husband Paul and son Michael. Thank you!

2014 Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition Results