Nine Double Golds. Nine Golds. Seventeen Silvers. Fourteen Bronzes
Those are the numbers from the 2026 Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition.
But numbers don’t tell the whole story.
For me, this year’s results represent 18 years of watching the Hudson Valley wine and craft beverage industry grow, improve, experiment, and find its voice.
And unless something changes, they also represent the results of the final Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition.
I really hope I’m wrong about that last part.
The 2026 Results
This year, 56 wines, ciders, and spirits were entered into the competition. From those entries, our judges awarded:
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🏅 9 Double Gold Medals
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🥇 9 Gold Medals
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🥈 17 Silver Medals
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🥉 14 Bronze Medals
When I look at those numbers, I can’t help but smile.
When I first became Chairwoman of the competition 18 years ago, I was lucky if we awarded one Double Gold and a few Gold medals.
This year? Eighteen of our 56 entries earned either Double Gold or Gold.
Think about that for a minute.
I’ve had a front-row seat to the evolution of Hudson Valley wine, and I can tell you that the quality has grown exponentially.
And it’s not just me saying that.
The judges see it too.
Building a Competition I Could Be Proud Of
When I first took over as Chairwoman, I knew I had a lot to learn.
So for five years, I volunteered at the New York Wine Classic. I wanted to understand how a major wine competition worked—from organizing flights and judging procedures to scoring and everything that happens behind the scenes.
I took what I learned and brought it home to our regional competition.
One of the things that has always been incredibly important to me is the quality of our judging panels.
I sought out experienced and qualified judges—wine and beverage professionals, educators, writers, bloggers, and people who contribute to wine publications.
Some of our judges have been with the competition almost since the beginning.
And somewhere along the way, something pretty wonderful happened.
Our little Hudson Valley competition became a competition people wanted to judge.
Wine professionals wanted to come here because they were curious about the Hudson Valley. They wanted to taste our wines, ciders, and spirits and see what was happening in this region.
The Part of Competition Day That Always Made Me Smile
The competition is blind.
When results begin coming across my desk, I don’t see the producer or the name of the wine. All I see are panel numbers and flight numbers.
But whenever I saw a Double Gold or Gold, I smiled.
Then, of course, I had to go find out who it was.
There is something incredibly rewarding about watching a winery that you’ve known for years earn that kind of recognition.
Maybe it’s a producer that has been working with a particular grape for years. Maybe it’s a newer winery finding its footing. Maybe it’s a wine from a grape people outside the Hudson Valley barely know.
Those were the moments that made all the work behind the competition worthwhile.
Because I’ve watched this region grow up.
Why the Medals Matter
Years ago, I moved the competition to the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival because I thought it was exactly where a regional competition belonged.
The wines, ciders, and spirits are judged, and then the producers attending the festival receive their medals.
They can put those medals right on the bottles.
Consumers can see them.
They can ask questions.
They can taste the winning wine or spirit.
And, hopefully, they buy a bottle.
Something happened this weekend that summed up exactly why I have always believed in this competition.
I was dropping off medals to one of the winning wineries when a gentleman standing in line asked me what they were.
I explained that they were medals from the Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition and told him what the winery had won.
His face lit up.
He immediately wanted to taste the winning wines.
That. Right there.
That’s why we do this.
A medal isn’t supposed to sit in a box somewhere.
It’s a conversation starter.
It gives a consumer who may know nothing about a particular wine the confidence to say, “I’ll try that.”
And maybe they discover something they love.
That’s what wine education and wine competitions should ultimately be about.
So Why Is the Competition Ending?
This is the difficult part.
It certainly isn’t because of the quality of the entries.
If anything, the 2026 results demonstrate the opposite.
It’s participation.
At the height of the competition, we had approximately 124 entries.
For the past three years, entries have hovered around 50.
This year, we had 56.
There are real costs associated with running a professional competition, and when entry numbers fall that dramatically, the entry fees simply don’t cover those costs.
As much as I love this competition—and I do—it isn’t financially feasible to continue without greater participation from the Hudson Valley craft beverage industry.
So, as things stand today, 2026 was the final Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition.
Boy, that was hard to type.
I Hope This Isn’t Really Goodbye
Here’s the thing.
I don’t want the competition to end.
The judges don’t want it to end either.
I’m willing to continue running it.
But for that to happen, the Hudson Valley wine, cider, and spirits community has to want it too.
A regional competition only works when the region supports it.
Maybe this is the end.
Or maybe it’s a wake-up call.
Maybe enough producers will say, “Wait—we don’t want to lose this.”
If that happens, I’m willing to have the conversation.
Because after 18 years, I’d much rather call this a pause than an ending.
Watching My Babies Grow Up
Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about Hudson Valley wineries.
They’re my babies.
I’ve watched wineries open their doors. I’ve watched winemakers experiment with varieties that people said wouldn’t work here. I’ve watched producers figure out what grows best on their sites and what Hudson Valley wine can be.
I’ve watched the mistakes.
I’ve watched the successes.
And I’ve watched the wines get better and better and better.
The 2026 competition results prove it.
Nine Double Golds. Nine Golds.
Those aren’t participation trophies.
Those medals were awarded through blind judging by qualified professionals evaluating what was in their glasses.
And I couldn’t be prouder.
Congratulations to Our 2026 Winners
To every winery, cidery, and distillery that entered this year: thank you.
Thank you for believing that regional recognition matters.
Thank you for putting your wines, ciders, and spirits in front of our judges.
And congratulations to every 2026 medal winner.
Display those medals.
Put them on your bottles.
Post them on social media.
Put them on your website.
Tell your customers.
Tell your retailers and distributors.
And when someone standing in your tasting room points to that medal and asks, “What’s that?”—tell them what you won and pour them a taste.
Because that’s exactly what those medals are supposed to do.
As for me, I’m not going anywhere.
Competition or no competition, I’ll keep talking about Hudson Valley wine. I’ll keep introducing people to the grapes, wineries, winemakers, and stories that make this region special.
I’ve spent a good portion of my wine life trying to get people to pay attention to what’s happening in my own backyard.
I’m certainly not stopping now.
So I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to the Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition.
Instead, I’ll say:
Congratulations to the class of 2026.
Thank you for 18 incredible years.
And hopefully…
I’ll see you at the judging table again.
