Awards at 23rd edition of international competition 'humbling': Pa. winery
The Decanter World Wine Awards continue to share some love with Benigna's Creek Vineyard & Winery in Schuylkill County.
Three years ago, Benigna’s Creek Vineyard & Winery was the first Pennsylvania winery ever to medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).
The Schuylkill County producer, which got its name from a trout stream once named Benigna’s Creek located on the south side of the vineyard — these days it’s called the Mahantongo Creek — just made history again in the same international contest.
It received word last week that it was named among the top American wine producers at the 2026 DWWA — the world’s largest wine competition, evaluating nearly 17,000 wines from 58 countries. Its 2024 Chambourcin earned a gold medal (95+ points), marking the second consecutive year the winery has won a gold medal.
The achievement was covered by Decanter and CNN Travel as part of the USA’s best-ever performance in the competition’s 23-year history.
Now in its 23rd edition, the DWWA evaluated nearly 17,000 wines from 58 countries, assessed by 245 leading international experts including 63 Masters of Wine and 24 Master Sommeliers. The USA posted its best-ever DWWA result: 2 Best in Show, 5 Platinum, and 32 gold medals — with 466 total medals, it nearly doubled the country’s previous highest tally.
Besides its one gold, Benigna’s Creek won a bronze for its 2025 Traminette.
Per the release, here’s what the judges had to say about both of Benigna Creek’s wines:
On the Chambourcin: “Jammy desiccated blackberry, cherry and raspberry fruit tinged with liquorice and black pepper. Softly structured with supple tannins and a sweet herbal lift on the finish.”
On the Traminette: “Vibrant juicy pineapple and dried apricot aromas on the nose. Bright acidity on the palate.”
Said Mike Masser, who founded the winery more than 25 years ago along with his brother Rick, of the latest awards: “All glory belongs to God — He gets the credit for every bottle, every medal, every blessing this winery has received. When we see what American wine accomplished at the DWWA this year, and that Benigna’s Creek is part of that story two years running, it’s truly humbling. Pennsylvania wine belongs on the world’s table, and we’re going to keep working every day to prove it.”
The winery won two awards in this competition in 2025, earning a 95 and gold medal for its slightly off-dry non-vintage Traminette and 90 points and a silver for its semi-sweet Tears, a white wine made from Cayuga grapes.
Jake Masser, the 26-year-old son of Mike and nephew of Rick, is the winemaker.
“Both of them have been tremendous mentors to me, not only in my coming back to the business, but also in life,” Jake told PennLive in a 2025 story. “I have been intertwined with the winery ever since I could walk.”
The winery, located at 1585 Ridge Road in rural Upper Mahantongo Township near Klingerstown, is open Wednesdays through Sundays. Its vineyard was planted in 1999 and the winery opened in A major expansion was accomplished in 2010 when the Benigna’s Creek team doubled the size of that winery.
Madeline Klinger, who handles communications for the winery, sent back these answers to several questions she received.
Q, So you’ve been entering this contest for a few years, yes? What put it on your radar to begin with?
A, Yes, this is actually our third time entering. We first submitted in 2023, took a year off in 2024, and then came back in 2025 and have been entering ever since.
What put it on our radar was really a mission bigger than just Benigna’s Creek — we’ve always believed that Pennsylvania is capable of producing world-class wines, and we wanted to find ways to validate that on a credible, objective stage. Decanter is the world’s largest wine competition, with nearly 17,000 wines from 58 countries judged blind by Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers. There’s no politics, no regional bias — your wine either earns the score or it doesn’t. That kind of third-party validation means something, both to us and to consumers who may not yet think of Pennsylvania when they think of serious wine.
Beyond that, we wanted a benchmark. Entering a competition of this caliber forces you to look honestly at your wines against the best in the world — it’s a great quality check and it pushes you to keep improving. We also grow French-American hybrid varieties like Chambourcin and Traminette that don’t always get the recognition they deserve, and we saw Decanter as an opportunity to show that these varieties, grown in the right place with the right care, can stand alongside anything else on the international stage.
Q, I’ve probably asked this before, but how much Chambourcin are you growing and how many different ways are you using it?
A, We grow about 10 tons of Chambourcin fruit in a good year. We use it in our Chambourcin wine (the wine that won gold at Decanter). Our Row 25 wine is a dry blend of Chambourcin and Chancellor grapes named after the row in the vineyard where our Chambourcin and Chancellor grapes meet.
Q, Anything new or special there this summer? New wines? Any changes to the venue or new events?
A, Our popular Peach wine is being released again on July 10 and will be available for a limited time. Pear wine is back August 16th. In terms of events we are offering more events, featuring our wildflower patch including “Italian Summer” weekends in July and Bottles & Bouquets in August.
Q, Gotta ask about the freeze ... how much, if any, damage did you suffer there?
A, We estimate we lost 45% of the vineyard due to freeze. It was the worst frost our vineyard has seen since we first planted our vines in 1999.
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