Enter your wine in the world's largest competition for hobby winemakers. The best homemade wines from across North America and around the globe will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in 50 categories awarded by a panel of experienced wine judges. In 2008 we had 4,321 entries from 48 American states, 8 Canadian provinces and 6 countries. Enter your wines and compete against the continent's best home winemakers! You can gain international recognition for your winemaking skills and get valuable feedback on your wines from the competition's judging panel. Deadline is March 17, 2009.

Key Competition Dates:

Entry Deadline for Wines to Arrive in Vermont: March 17, 2009

Wines Judged in Vermont: April 17-19, 2009

Results First Announced at WineMaker Magazine Conference in California: May 16, 2009(Results posted on winemakermag.com and mailed out soon after.)

A rundown of categories and rules can be found below.

To download an entry form, click here.

To download competition rules and regulations, click here.

Best of Show Medals will be awarded thanks to the following sponsors:

Grand Champion
Best of Show Red
Best of Show White
Best of Show Country Fruit
Best of Show Kit/Concentrate
Best of Show Estate Grown
Best of Show Dessert
Best of Show Sparkling
Best of Show Mead
WineMaker of the Year
Retailer of the Year
U-Vint of the Year
Club of the Year

Category Medals (Gold, Silver and Bronze) will be awarded thanks to the following sponsors in 50 categories:

1. White Native American Varietal (Logic, Inc.)
2. White Native American Blend (Keystonehomebrew.com)
3. Red Native American Varietal (St. Louis Wine & Beermaking)
4. Red Native American Blend (Lallemand, Inc.)
5. Blush/Rosé Native American (The Beer Essentials)
6. Red or White Native American Late Harvest and Ice Wine
7. White French American Hybrid Varietal (Purple Toes Inc.)
8. White French American Hybrid Blend
9. Red French American Hybrid Varietal
10. Red French American Hybrid Blend (Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies)
11. Blush/Rosé French American Hybrid
12. Red or White French American Late Harvest and Ice Wine
13. Chardonnay (Beer & Wine Makers Warehouse)
14. Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris (Mosti Mondiale Inc.)
15. Gewürztraminer (High Gravity Homebrewing & Winemaking Supplies)
16. Riesling (grapestompers.com)
17. Sauvignon Blanc (E.Z. Cap)
18. Other White Vinifera Varietals (Vine Guy Productions)
19. White Vinifera Bordeaux Style Blends
20. Other White Vinifera Blends (Grape Expectations - Bridgewater, NJ)
21. Cabernet Franc (my LHBS (MyLocalHomebrewShop) )
22. Cabernet Sauvignon (MoreWine!)
23. Merlot (Grape & Granary)
24. Shiraz/Syrah (Bader Beer & Wine Supply)
25. Pinot Noir (High Gravity Homebrewing & Winemaking Supplies)
26. Sangiovese (Mosti Mondiale Inc.)
27. Zinfandel (E.Z. Cap)
28. Other Red Vinifera Varietals (The Beverage People)
29. Red Vinifera Bordeaux Style Blends (Oceans of Wine Supply, Inc.)
30. Other Red Vinifera Blends (Mosti Mondiale Inc.)
31. Blush/Rosé Red Vinifera (Stomp Them Grapes! LLC)
32. Red or White Vinifera Late Harvest and Ice Wine
33. White Table Wine Blend - Any Grape Varieties
34. Red Table Wine Blend - Any Grape Varieties
35. Blush Table Wine Blend - Any Grape Varieties (Beer and Wine Hobby)
36. Grape & Non-Grape Table Wine Blend
37. Apple or Pear Varietals or Blends (Homebrew Headquarters)
38. Stone Fruit - Peach, Cherry, Blends, etc. (Bet-Mar Liquid Hobby Shop)
39. Berry Fruit - Strawberry, Raspberry, Blends, etc. (Country Wines)
40. Other Fruits (The Flying Barrel Wine-on-Premise)
41. Traditional Mead (The Winemaker Shop)
42. Fruit Mead (The Purple Foot - Milwaukee)
43. Herb and Spice Mead (Brew Your Own magazine)
44. Flower or Vegetable
45. Port Style (Mosti Mondiale Inc.)
46. Sherry Style
47. Other Fortified
48. Sparkling Grape, Dry/Semi-Dry
49. Sparkling Grape, Sweet
50. Sparkling Non-Grape

Rules & Regulations

1. Entry deadline for wines to arrive is March 17, 2009. Wines are to be delivered to:
   Battenkill Communications
   5515 Main Street
   Manchester Center, VT 05255
   Ph: (802) 362-3981
2. Send ONE (1) BOTTLE per entry. Still wines must be submitted in standard 750 ml wine bottles. Ice wines or late harvest wines can be submitted in 375 ml bottles. Still meads can be submitted in 12 oz. or 22 oz. beer bottles. Sparkling wines must be in champagne bottles with proper closure and wire. All bottles must be free of wax, decorative labels and capsules. However, an identification label will be required on the bottle as detailed in rule #5.
3. Entry fee is $25 U.S. dollars (or $25 Canadian dollars) for each wine entered. Each individual person is allowed up to a total of 15 entries. You may enter in as many categories as you wish. Make checks payable to WineMaker. Only U.S. or Canadian funds will be accepted. On your check write the number of entries (no more than 15 total) and the name of the entrant if different from the name on the check. Entry fees are non-refundable.
4. All shipments should be packaged to withstand considerable handling and must be shipped freight pre-paid. Line the inside of the box with a plastic trash bag and use plenty of packaging material, such as bubble wrap, around the bottles. Bottles shipped in preformed styrofoam cartons have proven reliable in the past. Every reasonable effort will be made to contact entrants whose bottles have broken to make arrangements for sending replacement bottles. Please note it is illegal to ship alcoholic beverages via the U.S. Postal Service. FedEx Air and FedEx Ground will destroy all amateur wine shipments so do not use either of these services. Private shipping companies such as UPS with company policies against individuals shipping alcohol may refuse your shipment if they are informed your package contains alcoholic beverages. Entries mailed internationally are often required by customs to provide proper documentation. It is the entrant's responsibility to follow all applicable laws and regulations. Packages with postage due or C.O.D. charges will be rejected.
5. Each bottle must be labeled with the following information: Your name, category number, wine ingredients, vintage. Example: K. Jones, 9, 75% Baco Noir, 25% Foch, 2006. If you are using a wine kit for ingredients please list the brand and product name as the wine ingredients. Example: K. Jones, 22, Winexpert Selection International French Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006. A copy of the entry form, listing each of your wines entered, must accompany entry and payment.
6. It is entirely up to you to decide which of the 50 categories you should enter. You should enter each wine in the category in which you feel it will perform best. Wines must contain a minimum of 75% of designated type if entered as a varietal. Varietals of less than 75% must be entered as blends. To make sure all entries are judged fairly, the WineMaker staff may re-classify an entry that is obviously in the wrong category or has over 75% percentage of a specific varietal but is entered as a blend.
7. Wine kits and concentrate-based wines will compete side-by-side with fresh fruit and juice-based wines in all listed categories.
8. The origin of many Native American grapes is unknown due to spontaneous cross-breeding. For the purposes of this competition, however, the Native American varietal category will include, but is not limited to, the following grape families: Aestivalis, Labrusca, Riparia and Rotundifolia (muscadine).
9. For sparkling wine categories, dry/semi-dry is defined as <3% residual sugar and sweet as >3% residual sugar.
10. Contest is open to any amateur home winemaker. Your wine must not have been made by a professional commercial winemaker or at any commercial winery. No employee of WineMaker magazine may enter. Persons under freelance contract with Battenkill Communications are eligible. No person employed by a manufacturer of wine kits may enter. Winemaking supply retail store owners and their employees are eligible. Judges may not judge a category they have entered. Applicable entry fees and limitations shall apply.
11. All wines will be judged according to their relative merits within the category. Gold, silver and bronze medals within each category will be awarded on point totals and will not be restricted to the top three wines only (for example, a number of wines may earn enough points to win gold). The Best of Show awards will be those wines clearly superior within those stated categories. The Grand Champion award is given to the top overall wine in the entire competition.
12. The WineMaker of the Year award will be given to the individual whose top 5 scoring wine entries have the highest average judging score among all entrants.
13. The Club of the Year, Retailer of the Year and U-Vint of the Year awards will be based on the following scale:
    • Gold Medal (or any Best of Show medal): 3 points
    • Silver Medal: 2 points
    • Bronze Medal: 1 point
    The amateur club that accumulates the most overall points from its members' wine entries using the point scale abov will win Club of the Year. The home winemaking retail store that accumulates the most overall points from its customers' wine entries will win Retailer of the Year.The U-Vint or On-Premise winemaking facilty that accumulates the most overall points from its customer's wine entries will win U-Vint of the Year.
    
14. The Best of Show Estate Grown award will be given to the top overall scoring wine made with 75% fruit grown by the entrant. Both grapes and country fruits are eligible. 13. All entrants will receive a copy of the judging notes for their wines, along with a copy of the results.
15. All entrants will receive a copy of the judging notes for their wines, along with a copy of the results.
    
16. All wine will become the property of WineMaker magazine and will not be released after the competition.
17. All decisions by competition organizers and judges are final.