Time is running out to enter the 2026 WineMaker International Wine Competition. Get expert feedback on your wines from experienced judges and compete for medals in the world’s largest competition for home winemakers.
We spend so much time here at WineMaker thinking about how to make wine — from the fruit to the fermentation to the bottling and storage. But once a year we like to think about what’s on the outside of a bottle of wine instead of what’s on the inside.
Each year we get lots of imaginative designs — many of them with a great story to match the art. This year, out of the hundreds of entries we received, we managed to narrow down our choices to a tribute to a Contra Costa County (California) vineyard dog, a very literal interpretation of foot stomping grapes the old fashioned way, a Beelzebub-approved label celebrating a very deadly Zin, and a Pinot Noir with house cat appeal.
Thank you to everyone who entered this year, it is always a pleasure to see so many fresh ideas. And thank you to all of our generous prize sponsors!
GRAND
David and Cyndee Milam • Danville, California
GOLD
Ronald Marvin • Bakersfield, California
SILVER
Robert Adams • Carmel, California
BRONZE
John Schiavone • Canton, Ohio
READER’S CHOICE
Cheryl Spaulding • Phoenix, Arizona
HONORABLE MENTION
Nancy Powell Kansas City, KSCody Shive Chapel Hill, NCTom Price • Clay, NYMatthew Abbe Camarillo, CADavid Parr Sonoma, CAGnel Garibyan Burbank, CAGary Palmero Herald, GAStacey Bartlebaugh Indiana, PARon Elices Camarillo, CADavid Noone Delray Beach, FLRichard Vaughan Morristown, NJMark Fallone North Huntingdon, PAJacob H. Fehl, Jr. Lancaster, PAJoe Dente New Hyde Park, NY
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Gail Sacharczuk Holland, PARené Lauritsen Aarhus, DenmarkDave Sienknecht Santa Rosa, CASteve Perkins Santa Rosa, CAGregory Snader Lancaster, PAPaul Wade Missoula, MTChris MacDonald Seattle, WASusan Campell-Weir Clayton, CAAnn Speed Albuquerque, NMDave Roberts N. Tonawanda, NY