39th Annual US Amateur Winemaking Competition

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Runningwolf said:
Folks, I have entered this competition the last two years taking home gold both years and "best of show" last year. This is an awesome competition and club. Take a look at their web site and you'll see it's a club worth joining even if it's only for the newsletter. I got lazy last year and didn't send my check in for renewal but need to do that this year for sure. The price to enter the competition is very reasonable and you'll get honest feedback on your wine. Over 2000 miles away, I have no personal affiliation but highly recommend them.
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Hi Runningwolf! You seem to have lots of experience in winemaking as well as contests, what would be your advise to a newbie to enter a competition? What do we need to take care of if we are planning to compete? and what are the judges looking for in a wine?
 
Fabiola said:
Hi Runningwolf! You seem to have lots of experience in winemaking as well as contests, what would be your advise to a newbie to enter a competition? What do we need to take care of if we are planning to compete? and what are the judges looking for in a wine?
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what would be your advise to a newbie to enter a competition? Enter a competition to get some honest, unbiased comments about your wine. I entered my first competitions locally to meet other winemakers in the area and to find out what the judges had to say about my wine. Most competitions will have 2-3 judges, so read the comments from each one. They may differ quite a bit. So just jump in and enter a few of your best wines (the wines your friends keep asking for).

Presentation of label is not so important as the wines are usually placed in paper bags so the judges do not know who's wine it is. That is unless you are planning on entering your label into competition.

Enter your wine into the right catagory. It should be crystal clear with no sediment what so ever. Filtering could mean the difference of 1rst place or 2nd. Judges will also be looking for wine faults, C02, or if the wine is still green.

I hope this helps. I know several other folks enter numerous competitions and they may step in and mention something I forgot.
 
Runningwolf said:
what would be your advise to a newbie to enter a competition? Enter a competition to get some honest, unbiased comments about your wine. I entered my first competitions locally to meet other winemakers in the area and to find out what the judges had to say about my wine. Most competitions will have 2-3 judges, so read the comments from each one. They may differ quite a bit. So just jump in and enter a few of your best wines (the wines your friends keep asking for).

Presentation of label is not so important as the wines are usually placed in paper bags so the judges do not know who's wine it is. That is unless you are planning on entering your label into competition.

Enter your wine into the right catagory. It should be crystal clear with no sediment what so ever. Filtering could mean the difference of 1rst place or 2nd. Judges will also be looking for wine faults, C02, or if the wine is still green.

I hope this helps. I know several other folks enter numerous competitions and they may step in and mention something I forgot.
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Thanks a lot for the advise...
 
Just paid the entry fee and printed out the entry form! Only going to enter 1 bottle this year. The Strawberry Skeeter Pee that my wife loves. I don't care if I win anything. I just want to see what other wine drinkers and makers have to say about it. Get some feedback from the experts.
 
Quick question about this competition. What would I classify strawberry skeeter pee and what is the appellation? I'm thinking the classification should be sweet, berry fruit, lemon, but the appellation is confusing me.
 
The appellation is optional, and with skeeter pee, virtually impossible to determine. Unless you know where the lemons were grown. LOL!

Dan said the Skeeter Pees would fall under the "Other" catagory in the "Sweet" section, not the "Berry Fruit". I think he might be right (as usual :re), because technically, it's lemon wine with other fruit added. My Dragon Blood (which I am entering this year, mind you) has 48oz of lemon juice and six pounds of fruit in the primary, and I always refer to it as lemon wine with fruit added...so...I'm going with Dan's recommendation. Since the lemon juice incorporates 75% of the "grape or fruit" variety (as opposed to the smaller amount of juice squeezed from the six pounds of berries), I think the variety should be "lemon".

Does that sound logical? Has anyone entered skeeter pee in this contest before? How did you classify it, and was that classification satisfactory for the judges? I guess, as long as the class and subclass are right, the rest is fairly arbitrary.

Dragon Blood (Triple-Berry Skeeter Pee) = 7 - f - Lemon; or could I make the variety Lemon/Blackberry/Raspberry/Blueberry. Would that be too confusing? Ugh! I don't know!
 
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Lol!!! I'll get right on discovering where the lemons were grown!! Lol. That mass perfect sense to me. I guess my strawberry pee would be classified the same way. Looks like there will be some excellent competition with you sending you Dragon's Blood in Dave! I'm looking forward to seeing how my stuff compares. Now I just have to get a label filled out and send it in. I guess I'll just leave the appellation blank. Good luck to everyone that is entering!!!!
 
You, too, Marc! I've got some wine mailers coming soon. I'm sending two entries. Haven't decided on the second one yet.
 
I'm just sending one this year. Next year, I'll send two entries at least. One of them will be from my batch of muscadine wine that I'll be starting in about a week. I keep putting it off because I'm a little scared. I don't want to screw it up. I'm sending mine from my local UPS store. I'll let them bundle my bottle up all snug and protected. Lol
 
Depending on your store, I wouldn't suggest that. All UPS stores that I have dealt with will not ship wine if they know you are shipping it. USPS it is actually not legal though, so we tend to use FedEx or UPS. The trick is not telling them it is wine. They can and will scan it though, and if you don't tell them you have a liquid, they can cause issues for you. Stock answers are olive oil, balsamic vinegar, etc.
 
ckassotis said:
Depending on your store, I wouldn't suggest that. All UPS stores that I have dealt with will not ship wine if they know you are shipping it. USPS it is actually not legal though, so we tend to use FedEx or UPS. The trick is not telling them it is wine. They can and will scan it though, and if you don't tell them you have a liquid, they can cause issues for you. Stock answers are olive oil, balsamic vinegar, etc.
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Thanks!!! I might just go get the packaging tomorrow and then ship it on Tuesday. Try a little covert operation. ;)
 
OOPS! Skeeter Pee is not a desert wine, so not class 7. It's a class Sweet (5), subclass Other (f), Variety Lemon. I almost labelled it wrong! :d
 
Lol. I almost called you on that one, but I didn't want to seem like a know it all. :D

Trying to get my label printed right now so I can send it on its way.
 
Please, Marc, if you ever see me making a mistake, ask! "Hey, Dave, are you sure that's right?" is not a know-it-all question. We all make mistakes, and we should be here to help straighten eachother out when we do. I got your back...you got mine.

Brothers in winemaking! Right? :f

Anyway, here's my two entries. Dragon Blood (lemon/raspberry/blackberry/blueberry) on the left and littLEMONkey (lemon with lemon zest) on the right. Both bottled in June 2012, so they should be at the peak of their flavor curve.

100_0937.jpg


And here they are labelled and nestled snuggly in their shipper for departure this afternoon. Good luck, all who are entering!

Note: I wedged an extra cork piece at the top of each, and a few slices of cardboard below the littLEMONkey to make them nice and snug.

100_0938.jpg
 
Yes we are brothers in winemaking!!! I'm just used to being called a know it all by my wife. I have your back Dave!!! I'll do better next time Dave!

Those are some beautiful looking bottles you have there!!! I had to hand write my label due to technical (wife) difficulties. Lol. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to send mine off so I can show her the way to use Avery's software. I'll post a pic before I package it.
 
Dave, shouldn't it be classified as 5-f-lemon? Then specify what fruits you flavored it with?
 
Well, I decided to add the sub-catagory: Other, then specifiy lemon for the lemon wine and lemon/blackberry/blueberry/raspberry for the Dragon Blood. The form includes my phone number and email address, so I figure if they have questions, they can contact me. I think they'll figure it out. I can't be the first doofus who entered their contest...;)
 

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