The Judgement of Pennsylvania: Does The State Hold Its Own?

My home state of Pennsylvania has been making wine for about thirty years. In fact, a road trip to a local winery is what ignited my passion for wine, just over ten years ago. In hindsight, I can admit, Pennsylvania wines were not that good — but after seeing how they were made, and that the people producing them were essentially farmers, I was moved. I recognized that they were humbly trying to improve the quality of their juice and wanted to share it with the rest of the world.

The State has come a long way. We now have over 100 wineries in Pennsylvania and a small handful of them are making what I'd consider to be world-class wines. Improvements in site selection and vineyard management have helped immensely. Some have suggested that PA is where California was about twenty years ago: On the brink of making a name for itself in the wine world.

In that spirit, some passionate constituents of the Philadelphia hospitality scene thought it would be a fun promotional idea to conduct a friendly little competition: "The Judgement of Pennsylvania," loosely modeled after the famous Judgement of Paris in 1976. They put some of Pennsylvania's best wines up against those of California in a blind tasting. The event was hosted at the chic Philly Main Line restaurant, Nectar.

Curious? Watch the video to see how it all played out...