A toast to giving back: Judgement of Kingston marks 10 years of community impact

Volunteer-run event celebrates a decade of great wine, community spirit and more than $55,000 raised for local charities

Kingston’s premier wine competition marked a major milestone this weekend, celebrating a decade of showcasing top vintages while giving back to the community. The Judgement of Kingston held its 10th anniversary event on Saturday, highlighting not only Canadian wine excellence but also the charitable spirit behind the volunteer-run tradition.

Organizers say the annual blind tasting has now raised more than $55,000 for regional charities, including $10,000 this year for the StoreHouse Food Bank in Wellington and Lunch By George in Kingston.

The Judgement of Kingston usually compares Prince Edward County wines with bottles from other major regions, but this year’s 10th-anniversary edition focused solely on County producers and offered a special lineup of 10 wines, more than in previous years, to mark the milestone. Co-founder Lubomyr Luciuk shares his final thoughts at the end of the night.

This year’s big winners included Last House Vineyard’s 2023 Hillier Blanc Block Chardonnay, which swept both the Judges’ and People’s Choice awards. Stanners Vineyard and Broken Stone Winery topped the Pinot Noir category. We got some reactions from the Pinot Noir winners.

Tim Kuepfer was excited for Broken Stone to have been the judges top choice.

Stanners Vineyard, Colin Stanners wine won Peoples Choice, he shares his excitement.

Organizers say they are already looking ahead to next year’s showcase. For more details, visit judgementofkingston.ca.

Story by Alyssa Brush