Blind Wine Tasting Shows Statistical Tie Between French and New Jersey Wines

The “Judgment of Princeton” wine competition on June 8 at Princeton University awarded France the top honor in the white wine chardonnay and red wine category, but three New Jersey chardonnays placed second through fourth in the competition, according to the Garden State Wine Growers Association. 

The competition was part of the four-day American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE) conference.

“The results hardly tell the whole story," said Orley C. Ashenfelter, president of the AAWE and a Professor of Economics at Princeton University. "The judging was so close that, statistically, there were virtually no significant differences in the rankings. Therefore, if the competition were held again, there is a high probability the rankings would change due to how close the wines were judged.” 

Set up in the same manner as the 1976 “Judgment of Paris” where California wines bested their French counterparts, a panel of nine judges was assembled to blind taste test a specially selected list of four French wines and six New Jersey wines in each category. The whites had to be 100% chardonnay and the reds came from any of the Bordeaux blend grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and had to be grown in New Jersey. New Jersey wines for the competition were submitted to an informal panel of judges, who then selected the wines for the competition. These judges were not eligible to taste wines at the final competition.

Former journalist George Taber, who covered the 1976 Paris blind tasting- for TIME Magazine and wrote a subsequent book on the “Judgment of Paris,” organized the details of the tasting on Friday with the AAWE.  Taber arranged the details to mirror the set-up of the 1976 blind tasting, including the scoring, on a 20 point basis by the judges.

The panel of judges, made up of vineyard owners, international wine critics and journalists, including three from Belgium and France, each sampled 10 wines in a white and red category. New Jersey wine took three out of the top four spots in the white wine category and ranked third highest in the reds.

The “Judgment of Princeton” also showed the value of New Jersey wines.  The 2004 Mouton Rothschild and Haut Brion can cost upwards of $650 a bottle. While they finished one-two in the red wine category, New Jersey reds costing about 5% of that price received strong scores.

“New Jersey wines can play with the big ones,” stated AAWE Vice President Karl Storchmann, who is also managing editor, Journal of Wine Economics and Clinical Professor of Economics at New York University. 

Below are the rankings of the Judgment of Princeton 

Rank

WHITES

1

Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos Mouches 2009

FRA

2

Unionville Chardonnay 2010

NJ

3

Heritage Chardonnay 2010

NJ

4

Silver Decoy "Black Feather" Chardonnay

NJ

5

Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet

FRA

6 tied

Bellview Chardonnay 2010

NJ

6 tied

Domaine Macr-Antonin Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2009

FRA

8

Amalthea Cellars Chardonnay 2008

NJ

9

Ventimiglia Chardonnay 2010

NJ

10

Jean Latour-Labille Meursault-Charmes Premier Cru 2008

FRA

Rank

REDS

1

Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 2004

FRA

2

Chateau Haut-Brion 2004

FRA

3

Heritage Estate Reserve BDX 2010

NJ

4

Chateau Montrose 2004

FRA

5

Tomasello Cabernet Sauvignon "Oak Reserve" 2007

NJ

6

Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2004

FRA

7

Bellview Lumiere 2010

NJ

8

Silver Decoy Cabernet Franc 2008

NJ

9

Amalthea Cellars Europa VI 2008

NJ

10

Four JG's Cabernet Franc 2008

NJ

Wine Judges:

Jean–Marie Cardebat, Professor of Economics, Université de Bordeaux
Tyler Colman, DrVino.com
John Foy, Wine Columnist The Star Ledger; www.thewineodyssey.com
Olivier Gergaud, Professor of Economics, BEM Bordeaux Management School
Robert Hodgson, owner, Fieldbrook Winery, CA

Linda Murphy, co-author of American Wine; Decanter
Danièle Meulders, Professor of Economics, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Jamal Rayyis, Gilbert & Gaillard Wine Magazine
Francis Schott, Stage Left Restaurant, New Brunswick; RestaurantGuysRadio.com

Ex officio:

Mark Censits, Cool Vines Wine & Spirits
George Taber, Block Island, RI