The Judgement of Kingston 2024 was another success for the fundraising charity event held at the Residence Inn by Marriot in Kingston, Ontario! Since 2016, the Judgement of Kingston has raised $53,000 for local charities in Kingston and Prince Edward County. This year, ticket sales plus a silent auction that includes generously donated 3-bottle packages of award winning wines helped raise $7000 towards Wellington Food Hub and Lionhearts Kingston.

Each year, wines from Prince Edward County are blind tasted against another acclaimed wine region. This year, the judges and attendees blind tasted 3 Prince Edward County Pinot Noir and 3 Oregon Pinot Noir. The judges were Michael Godel, John Carnahan, and myself, moderated by Ian Nicholls of County Sips. Even though we taste and rank separately, our top choices were quite similar. The scores were tallied and the results were warmly welcomed.

1st place : Broken Stone County Grown Pinot Noir 2023

2nd place : Stanners Pinot Noir 2021

3rd place : The Grange Diana Block Pinot Noir 2023

Each judge discussed a winning wine to the crowd before revealing which wine had placed. I had the pleasure of presenting the #1 wine we selected which was proven to be high-quality, cohesive, and display beautiful balance of red fruit and earthy notes. After I pulled out the bottle from the blind bag, I was ecstatic for Broken Stone! Tim and Micheline from Broken Stone winery are crafting exceptional wines from the County and certainly deserve more recognition like this, in my opinion.

I had a BLAST as a second-time judge at this event. Not only do I love to revisit my old stompin’ grounds in the gorgeous city of Kingston, but I’m always happy to get the chance to celebrate Prince Edward County wines, and what a way to celebrate with our local wine winning the top three positions of the day!