Atlanta
International Wine Summit  |
Competition: |
Open
to all types of wine from any nation. The goal is to provide
an honest assessment of wines that are currently available,
and to identify exceptional wines for consumers, retailers,
restaurants, wholesalers, importers and brokers |
Entries: |
800+ |
Judging: |
Over 70 qualified
wine professionals and consumers conducted blind evaluations
by category over a two-week period. |
Established: |
1979 |
|
California
State Fair
|
Competition:
|
The oldest wine
competition in North America. It is open to California bonded
wineries with retail sales, and is meant to encourage, stimulate,
promote and enrich California’s reputation as one of
the highest quality wine regions of the world. |
Entries:
|
2,844 |
Judging:
|
Every judge
must show evidence of professional tasting experience and/or
must have passed a qualification test. |
Established:
|
1855 |
Critics
Challenge International Wine Competition |
Competition: |
This competition
is open to wines produced anywhere in the world that have
been produced for commercial sale. |
Entries: |
1200+ |
Judging: |
Judging panels
are comprised exclusively of wine critics and wine writers. |
Established: |
2004 |
|
Dallas Morning News
Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to wines
produced in all wine regions of the world. |
Entries:
|
3,064 |
Judging:
|
Wines are judged
by 49 individuals who work with wine on a daily basis, including
restaurateurs, wine stewards, retail wine buyers, wine and
food writers, enologists, as well as a few very knowledgeable
consumers. Each judging panel contains a mix of disciplines
so different viewpoints will be considered in the evaluation
of the wines. |
Established:
|
1985 |
Finger
Lakes International Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to commercially
produced wines from any nation. |
Entries:
|
1,500+ |
Judging:
|
There are 36
judges including wine writers, restaurateurs, wine consultants,
vineyard owners, and certified wine judges. |
Established:
|
2001 |
|
Grand
Harvest Awards
|
Competition:
|
The Grand Harvest
Awards is different than the other judgings. Wines are judged
only in the context of their own viticultural area, as to
acknowledge the influence of terroir in wine quality. The
goal of the Grand Harvest Awards is to identify the finest
wine examples from each viticultural region. This is accomplished
by tasting wines only against other wines of the same appellation
thereby eliminating cross-regional factors. In this way, the
inherent quality of a wine can be measured without the influences
that sometimes overshadow wines of very high quality. |
Entries:
|
1,345 |
Judging:
|
All wines are
judged in their own regional classes, by panels of five expert
judges from the ranks of wine professionalism. Judges taste
no more than 45 wines per half-day, and use a 100-point scale
in addition to the traditional Gold, Silver, Bronze rankings
to reach their decisions. A medal is not awarded unless a
wine receives at least a Bronze plus vote (numerical score
of 80) from all judges on the panel. |
Established:
|
1990 |
|
Hilton Head WineFest
|
Competition:
|
Open to table
and sparkling wines currently available in commercial quantities. |
Entries:
|
1500+ |
Judging:
|
Judges rank
each wine using the 20-point Davis Rating Scale. Judging is
conducted blind, and all evaluations are conducted silently. |
Established:
|
1985 |
Indiana
State Fair - Indy International |
Competition: |
Open to all
wines produced anywhere in the world. The goal of the competition
is to identify, reward and promote winemaking excellence.
This is the largest competition outside of California and
attracts wines from 41 states and 17 countries. |
Entries: |
3600+ |
Judging: |
Wines are judged
by more than 75 wine experts from the US, Canada and Europe.
they are involved in wine production, research, education,
marketing and other related disciplines. Serving on panels
of 5, they are polled to determine awards. If all 5 vote "gold,"
a Concordance Gold is awarded and the wine then competes for
Best of Show. |
Established: |
1992 |
|
International
Eastern Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to all
wines marketed in the United States and Canada. Provides a
means to compare and give recognition to the wines produced
in the many different wine regions of the world. |
Entries:
|
2,113 |
Judging:
|
Judges are wine-knowledgeable
professionals, wine makers, and media specialists who represent
major East Coast markets from Miami to Toronto. |
Established:
|
1975 |
|
Jerry
D. Mead’s New World International Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to wines
produced anywhere in the "New World," including
North America, Central America, South America, Australia,
New Zealand, and South Africa. |
Entries:
|
2,207 |
Judging:
|
More than 50
qualified professional judges formed 16 panels to evaluate
the wines. The wines are judged against others of its type
within its price category, (inexpensive, moderate, premium,
and super-premium), allowing consumers to become informed
as to best wines within each price category. Certain categories
were also further divided by vintage. Additionally up to six
sugar classes for table wines, and four for champagnes and
sparkling wines are used to further define a wine. |
Established:
|
1980 |
|
Long
Beach Grand Cru Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to commercially
produced wines from around the world. |
Entries:
|
1,616 |
Judging:
|
There are 31
professional judges including wholesalers, wine merchants,
restaurateurs, wine industry leaders, and wine columnists
who are skilled in judging under the American Wine Competition
System. |
Established:
|
1995 |
|
Los
Angeles County Fair
|
Competition:
|
Open to wines
of all varietals from all over the world as well as “Limited
Production Wines”. Their mission is “to educate,
encourage and stimulate the continuing improvement in the
quality of wines and vineyards throughout the world. [They]
intend to enrich the reputation of these wine growing regions
and their winemakers by demonstrating, through [this] competition,
the ability to produce fine wines of outstanding taste, character
and complexity in a manner that will inform and stimulate
consumers.” |
Entries:
|
3,936 |
Judging:
|
The event is
judged by a group of nearly 90 qualified individuals from
around the world representing the wine industry and the consuming
public who are required to demonstrate a high degree of taste
acuity. |
Established:
|
1940 |
|
Monterey
Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to all
commercial wines from around the world. |
Entries:
|
1,344 |
Judging:
|
There are more
than 25 judges, principally from California, including wine
writers, vineyard owners and other knowledgeable professionals.
All wines are tasted blind and judged solely on the merits
of the wine itself. Wines are not subdivided by retail price. |
Established:
|
1993 |
|
Northwest
Wine Summit
|
Competition:
|
Open only to
wines produced in the Northwest, specifically, wines from
Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. |
Entries:
|
950 |
Judging:
|
The judging
panel is composed of 18 judges equally mixed between wine
makers from the region, wine professionals (journalists, distributors,
retailers, sommeliers, etc.), and knowledgeable consumers
from around the United States. |
Established:
|
1996 |
|
Orange
County Fair Commercial Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to all
wines produced in California from grapes grown in California
and available commercially in Orange County. The intent of
the competition is to aid consumers in making informed decisions
about wine selections, and to promote the understanding of
winemaking in California. |
Entries:
|
3,191 |
Judging:
|
This year 91
judges tasted 99 varietals in 401 categories using a 100-point
rating system that was used to determine gold, silver, and
bronze medal winners. Each wine is judged within low, medium,
high, and premium price categories, and wines are also separated
by residual sugar content. The judges are professional vintners,
winemakers or winery principals. |
Established:
|
1977 |
|
Pacific
Rim International Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Entrants come
from throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil,
Argentina, Chile, Australia, and New Zealand. |
Entries:
|
2,186 |
Judging:
|
Judges come
from all facets of the wine industry, including wine makers,
technical personnel, writers, and purveyors. Every year, judges
are rotated so at least one third are new to the competition,
ensuring that there is constant "new blood" involved
in the judging. |
Established:
|
1985 |
|
Riverside
International Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
The competition
is open to all commercial wineries from around the world. |
Entries:
|
2,330 |
Judging:
|
A panel of 45
judges evaluated wine from 503 wineries. Judges were drawn
from a diverse group of professionals including wine writers,
sommeliers, college professors, vineyard owners and winemakers
as well as knowledgeable consumers. |
Established:
|
1982 |
|
San
Diego National Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to wines
produced commercially anywhere in the United States and internationally. |
Entries:
|
2,100+ |
Judging:
|
40 knowledgeable
wine professionals from around the country are divided into
panels of three judges who reach a consensus as to the quality
of the wines tasted. Gold medal winners are then judged again
to determine sweepstakes winners within each variety. |
Established:
|
1983 |
|
San
Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
This year, for
the first time the competition was open not only to wines
bottled or made from grapes grown in California, but also
those from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. More than 900 wineries
entered. |
Entries:
|
3,200+ |
Judging:
|
There were 55
professional wine judges from throughout the United States. |
Established:
|
1983 |
|
San
Francisco International Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to all
commercially produced wine originating anywhere in the world.
This year over 1,000 wineries from 18 different countries
entered. |
Entries:
|
3,820 |
Judging:
|
Over 40 top
wine industry professionals and internationally recognized
journalists and writers are set up in panels to evaluate wines
by vintage within their class. |
Established:
|
1990 |
|
West
Coast Wine Competition
|
Competition:
|
Open to wines
produced in Baja, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon,
Washington, Australia, British Columbia, and New Zealand. |
Entries:
|
1,712 |
Judging:
|
Panels consist
of 5-members, one each from wine media, wine/vineyard research,
winemaking, wine education, wine marketing. Majority will
rule in reaching consensus. |
Established:
|
1983 |
