by LILLY PARNELL on AUGUST 1st, 2023
Bridge Lane Wine attained several high-scoring awards during this year’s International Canned Wine Competition. The label, which is owned by Lieb Cellars, faced off against 230 entries from around the world and brought home two Gold Medals and two “Best of Show” awards.
This competition is a “who’s who for the canned wine market,” according to Ami Opisso, general manager of Lieb Cellars and Bridge Lane Wine. The annual event was held in Boonville, CA from July 18 through the 20 and saw entries from 18 countries, including the US, France, the Netherlands, Japan, South Africa, Chile and Germany.
“We’ve entered our Bridge Lane cans in the competition for the past five years and have won quite a few Golds,” said Opisso. “Yet, the ‘Best of Show’ awards always eluded us. This year we entered all seven of our canned wines and four won.”
Of the winning wines, Bridge Lane’s canned Chardonnay, an unoaked, fresh and citrusy wine took home the “Best of Show” accolade in the White Wine category and their canned Bubbles Rosé, a bright, refreshing sparkler with only a hint of sweet strawberry and peach flavors received the “Best of Show” in the Sparkling Wine category. Bridge Lane’s still Rosé, a dry and zippy flavor with watermelon and grapefruit notes and their Bubbles, which is made from Riesling and obtains notes tangerine, earned Gold Medal awards.
“‘Best of Show’ awards are given to the Gold Medal wines in each category that receive the highest scores and that the panel of judges unanimously agree on,” said Opisso. “[These] are the six best wines in the entire competition and Bridge Lane was two of them.”
With a focus on alternative, eco-friendly packaging, Bridge Lane introduced their line of canned wines in 2017, after over two years of development. As the first New York-based brand to delve into the canned wine market, Bridge Lane wanted to cater to on-the-go North Forkers who lacked access to portable, single-serving wines when going to the beach, the pool or on a boat.
“[Our] cans are eco-friendly, portable, chill-able and a great vessel for housing wine because they don’t oxidize,” said Opisso. “It is a tricky format from a technical perspective and I think that’s why we’ve seen so many canned wine brands come and go over the years. We stuck it out and kept getting better. These awards are proof that 1. our cans are as good as we think they are and 2. that the North Fork can make world-class wines in any container.”
Besides the Bridge Lane tasting room in Mattituck, these award-winning canned wines can be found and celebrated in a wide variety of locations throughout the country, including several North Fork restaurants, local liquor stores and online.
The Bridge Lane Tasting Room is located at 35 Cox Neck Road, Mattituck.
Lilly Parnell is a multi-media reporter who started at Times-Review Media Group in 2022. A graduate of Stony Brook University's School of Communications and Journalism, she specializes in telling authentic stories about food, drink and lifestyle.
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