Judgment of Winer Things: Could New Jersey Wines Beat France?
- Marjorie Wang
- Jul 21
- 4 min read
“You can’t make me drink NJ wines.”
I heard this for the months I tried to hype up my NJ versus France tasting. As soon as people heard the concept, a look apprehension crept onto their faces. Everyone (including me) was convinced that we’d have no problem picking out which wines came from France and which wines came from New Jersey. I knew this concept would make for a hilarious wine tasting, even though I wasn’t confident about the wines I was about to serve.
It all started with the Judgement of Paris
If you've ever watched Bottle Shock or read about famous moments in wine history, you've probably heard of the Judgment of Paris.
In 1976, France was considered the unquestioned benchmark for fine wine. California, by comparison, was still viewed as the wild west of winemaking—experimental, lacking tradition, and nowhere near the quality produced by French makers.
Then came Steven Spurrier with a blind tasting where wine experts tasted California and French wines blind. When the scores were revealed, California wines came out on top, forever changing our view on New World wines.
Then I discovered the Judgement of Princeton
While researching the Judgement of Paris, I somehow found myself on the Wikipedia page for the Judgement of Princeton. Yes, Princeton, New Jersey. In 2012, reporter and author George M Taber, hosted a tasting following the same basic idea, pitting French wines against New Jersey. This blew my mind! With the exception of one French wine, the judges found that the French wines did not outperform NJ wines with any statistical significance. As a proud New Jerseyan, I couldn’t stop giggling and I knew I wanted to recreate this experience for the Winer Things.
Building the tasting
Prior to this event, every Winer Things tasting was a sit-down. But I’ve also wanted to try a walkaround tasting, similar to the James Suckling tastings that I’ve attended (we call ourselves the #sucklers). Since we were trying 16 wines, a flexible, self-paced format seemed appropriate. Among the 16 wines, we had 8 whites, and 8 reds, half were NJ, half were French. I tried to match both style and price, with most bottles falling between $25 and $45 (the NJ wines were a little expensive).
The NJ wineries represented:
Unionville Vineyards (unfortunately this year, they suffered from a devastating hail storm which destroyed 50% of their vineyards)
William Heritage Winery
Palmaris (Tomasello’s premium label)
To purchase the wines, I had to go directly from the winery. But one thing I didn’t expect was how friendly everyone was. I called in for recommendations to ensure that the grapes were grown in the state. At one winery, I spoke with the founder/winemaker, who told me about a rare grape called Chancellor, which was the first grape they planted in their vineyards (we most likely can’t find it anywhere else in the country). Another winery explained that they were the largest Rhone varietal grower in the state, and recommended a Counoise for the tasting. I learned that New Jersey has four AVAs, including Cape May Peninsula, Central Delaware Valley, Outer Coastal Plains and Warren Hills. A couple of weeks later, I went to a Unionville Vineyards Library Tasting, and they remembered my tasting and asked for the results!
It was a reminder that New Jersey wine is still deeply personal. Many of these are family-owned wineries where you talk directly with people who are involved in the agriculture and production side of each wine they produce.
The Blind Tasting
During the tasting, all the wines were wrapped in foil and numbered. Attendees tasted each wine and ranked them from 1-8 within its category. They also had one extra challenge: is this wine from France or from New Jersey? We were all confident. We’ve been tasting wines together for nearly three years!
“This has to be French.”
“That’s definitely New Jersey.”
“Too fruity—New Jersey.”
And of course… we were all wrong, including me. I came into the tasting with my own assumptions, that the NJ wines would be noticeably fruitier than the French. As we revealed the wines, it became clear that none of us could actually tell.
The biggest surprise
If there was one clear takeaway from the afternoon, it was the strength of the NJ white wines. Amongst the white wines, rankings were mixed, and most were delicious.
The red wines were more mixed, with greater quality variation, which sparked plenty of discussion. And that’s exactly what made the format so much fun. Everyone was comparing notes, defending their guesses, changing their minds, and revisiting glasses to see if a second taste would reveal something they had missed. The walkaround blind format completely changed the conversation.
And the winner was…
When all the rankings were added together, France slightly overperformed across the board. Does that prove that France makes better than New Jersey? Maybe not, but it does remind us that wine labels carry a lot of influence. As soon as we know where a wine is from, or how much it costs, we already have expectations and preconceived notions. Blind tastings strip all of that away.
At the beginning of the tasting, I tried to make everyone promise to go in on a parcel of NJ land to farm grapes if NJ won. But alas… the Winer Things is not ready to have its own label yet.
White Wines
Domaine Barat Chablis
Unionville Pheasant Hill Chardonnay 2024
Arbois Chardonnay 2019
Le Chemin de Pierre, Domaine Pierre Boisson Bourgogne 2022
William Heritage Chenin Blanc Outer Coastal Plain 2024
Palmaris Outer Coastal Plain Chardonnay Reserve 2023
Unionville Vineyards Unoaked Chardonnay 2023
Château de Chamilly Les Bassels Bourgogne 2023
Red Wines
Château Bardins Pessac-Léognan 2018
Unionville Sourland Ridge Red 2023
Château Belregard-Figeac Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2018
William Heritage Grand Vintage Cabernet Franc 2024
Madame de Beaucaillou Haut-Médoc 2020
Palmaris Outer Coastal Plain Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2020
William Heritage Grand Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon 2024
Château Faurie de Souchard Saint-Émilion 2019
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