Bottling for future competitions?

[smurfe]

Hello all, I have a quick question in regards to wine competitions. Does the bottle the wine is in play any effect on the judging? Lets say you bottle Cabernet Sauvignon in Burgundy bottles instead of Bordeaux bottle or you bottle a Pinot Grigio in a Brown Hock bottle?

The reason I ask is that I have hundreds of empty recycled wine bottles. A huge percentage of these are Burgundy bottles of the olive color nature. I make mostly red wines and none thus far are Pinot Noir which normally uses this type of bottle. I have probably 200 brown Hock bottles as well. The person that gave them to me must of really drank a lot of Riesling.

If I bottle these wines in the Burgundy bottles and later find I have an exceptional wine that is worthy of competition entry will not having it bottled in the "industry standard" bottle effect the judging?

Will all the other winemakers be laughing at me behind my back cause I was the poor kid on the block and couldn't afford the shiny new bottles of correct proportions? Will I be outcast and never be picked for the team again? These are the things I wonder!

I guess I could always just concentrate on making Pinot Noir as it is the one red wine I notice that is bottled in these bottles. In fact the majority of these empties are indeed Pinot Noir bottles.

These are just some of the strange thoughts that rattle around inside my head while I make my wines. Just was wondering is all.


Smurfe

Edited by: smurfe

 

[Bill B]

Hi Smurfe, I don't think it matters one bit. For ex. In the Winemakers Mag competition the only requirement is the wine be in a 750ml bottle. Ice wines or late Harvest can be in 375ml, Meads can be in 12oz or 22oz beer bottles. The only exception is Sparkling wines must be in a Champagne bottle with proper closure andwire. Other than that I wouldn't worry about it. The official rules of the particular competition should have any exceptions if any. I'd go for what bottles you have.


Bill

 

[MedPretzel]

Well, I don't think to competitions (and I've only entered in my wines into a local, county fair) it really makes a difference, like Bill B said.





However, be aware that the darker (green) the bottle, the less light gets to the wine. In certain wines, like Elderberry, I can tell you that light plays a detrimental role on the wine. How it does this with kit wines, I am not sure. My elderberry turned slightly brown when bottled in a clear (white) bottle, and I got points marked off for it.


I am not saying that this is the gospel-truth, but you might want to consider that aspect if you're planning on future competitions. Perhaps you could bottle most of your wine in the lighter bottles, since you have so many, and 5 or so in the darker ones. It might be an interesting experiment, at least.

Just my 2 cents!





Martina

 

[smurfe]

Martina, I have actually considered that. Bottling a few bottles inthe proper bottles and the rest in what ever I have available.


Smurfe

 

[Waldo]

In the WineMakers competition Smurf I dont believe it really matters what type of bottle as long as it is the specified type for the type of wine being enteredandthe only label they allow is just one giving your personal information and a description and contents of your wine. They do have a label contest too, the results which were in this past issue and there were some pretty dang good prizes for the winners. Edited by: Waldo