New York Wine Classic 2022

Organized annually by the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, the New York Wine Classic celebrates a diverse selection of world-class wines from producers within the State. For the second year, NYWGF has partnered with the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) to judge wines submitted from across New York state. Scores will be awarded by BTI’s trained sensory panel comprised of beverage directors, sommeliers, top bartenders, retail buyers and educators. Entries for this year’s competition will be accepted March 1 – 31, 2022, with samples to be received by BTI no later than April 15th.

Similar to last year, wineries will have the option of submitting wines to the competition only, or purchasing a full-review for the opportunity to be included on BTI’s public-facing website, tastings.com.

Competition Rules

The competition is open to any wine produced in and bearing an approved New York AVA as established by the TTB.

A complete listing of New York AVAs can be found here: https://www.ttb.gov/wine/established-avas#New-York

Finger Lakes/Cayuga/Seneca
Hudson River/Upper Hudson River
Lake Champlain
Lake Erie
Long Island/North Fork/Hamptons
New York/New York State
Niagara Escarpment OR a New York County

The competition is also open to specialty wines (non-grape wines) and mead produced in New York State.

Non-grape wines and mead will have their own award and are not eligible for the Governor’s Cup round.

All entries must be commercially available in New York state at the time of entry
All bottles must have a government-approved label attached
Varietal wines must contain 75% of the labeled grape variety, otherwise it must be entered as a blend
In order to be eligible for the Winery of the Year Award, a winery must enter seven (7) or more grape wines
There will only be a Best of Class winner for a given class if there are 7 or more entries in the class and at least one entry achieves a gold medal.

FAQs

Where should I ship wine samples?

Ship Two (2) 750 ml bottles or equivalent to:

The Lab
OK Imports, LLC
4849 N. Milwaukee Ave, Suite 304
Chicago, IL 60630 USA
P: 773-930-4080

Please note: To comply with shipping regulations and to avoid a fine, you must include ASR (Adult Signature Required) in the reference field of your airway bill and affix an ASR sticker to the outside of your package.

Shipping info, FAQs and other handy info can be found here: https://bevtest.com/services/reviews/resources/#shipping

How will wines be judged?

BTI’s Points-to-Medals conversion scale:

96-100 – Superlative (Platinum Medal)
90-95 – Exceptional (Gold Medal)
85-89 – Highly Recommended (Silver Medal)
80-84 – Recommended (Bronze Medal)
79/NR – Not Recommended (No Medal)

For this engagement, BTI’s Platinum medal would be equivalent to a Double Gold medal.

You can read more about BTI’s methodology and judging panel at: https://bevtest.com/lab/

When will the competition results be available?

Top award winners will be announced live during the 2022 Classic Virtual Awards Ceremony on July 12th. The complete list of individual wine results will be released following the event and published on our website.

Still have questions?

If you have any questions regarding submissions reach out to BTI’s Client Marketing Manager via e-mail Diana@bevtest.com or call 773-930-4080.

If you have any questions regarding your membership status with the Foundation, or how this year’s competition is different from year’s past, reach out to Jennifer Cooper, Membership & Events Manager at: jennifercooper@nywgf.org or call 315-924-3706.