On November 29, 2006 Crossing Vineyards’ ’05 Chardonnay recently won top honors in the Starwine International Wine Competition, 2006, earning the coveted distinction “Top Gold & Best of Class.”
Crossing Vineyards and Winery is located on a two hundred year old estate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, less than a mile from the place where George Washington crossed the Delaware River in 1776. Crossing Vineyards and Winery is a family owned business and is deeply committed to producing wines of quality from the finest Pennsylvania fruit. The ownership is dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture methods which preserve the balance of nature and protect the environment
This prestigious international competition included wine submissions from 15 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States. Out of the over 1200 wines entered, only 16 (or 1.4%) received the distinction “Best of Class.”
A wine capturing “Top Gold & Best of Class” in this competition is defined as “…deserving of exceptional recognition. A ‘Best of Class’ wine has earned a gold award, but displays attributes which surpass any other gold medal winner in its category. A ‘Best of Class’ is granted only if a wine represents the highest level of achievement within its type when evaluated by international standards, and not by criteria specific to any one region.”
The competing wines were evaluated by 45 Sommelier/Judges from 10 different countries: Austria, Canada, China, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands and the U.S.
11 judges are members of the distinguished Court of Master Sommeliers (MS), and 7 have attained their Master of Wine (MW) from the renowned Institute of Masters of Wine. The other judges were selected based on their outstanding reputations and strong experience within the wine industry as sommeliers at some of the world’s top restaurants.
A 2002 1st Cru Puligny-Montrachet from Domaine Jacques Prieur, Les Combettes parcel in Burgundy, captured the Top Gold, Best of Class award for Chardonnay in Starwine’s 2005 competition.