Judgment of Princeton puts NJ on the map

New Jersey didn't win, but it showed it's in the game.

Unlike in 1976, when a Napa Valley Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon outscored French wines in the now-famous Judgment of Paris and catapulted American wines onto the world stage, New Jersey bottlings weren't quite as scene-stealing at last Friday's 'Judgment of Princeton' tasting at Princeton University.

Yet Jersey's Chardonnays did the state proud, taking three of the top four spots against five grand cru/premier cru burgundies. Its Bordeaux-style reds were less successful against real-deal Bordeaux, some of them lacking in depth and complexity, and one of them emphatically green and...