New Jersey; New York Wines Win Honors At California Competition

The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition awarded three gold medals to New Jersey wines. That's a pretty strong showing for a state whose wineries are still in various stages of development and has left lots of room for improvement in the past.

Sharrott's 2008 cabernet franc and a 2008 gewürztraminer from Alba, near Milford, were winners. Alba also claimed the Best of Class gold for its chambourcin.

"We've seen a continued growth of entries from outside of California," said Bob Fraser, executive director of the Chronicle competition, the largest in America, whose 4,913 wines came from 23 states.

Granted, most of these, like 90 percent of the $30 billion American wine industry's product, came from California. But in a competition where wines are tasted blindly, identified just by a number on the crystal stem, preconceptions are obliterated. And there are bound to be some unexpected winners.

Aside from the well-established vineyards of Oregon and Washington state, this year saw a strong push in medals from New York's Finger Lakes area, which took top honors in five of the 26 white and sparkling categories.

The full list of wine categories and winners is here.