It’s that time of year again —time to share our favorite amateur wine labels submitted into WineMaker’s 2026 Label Contest. Once again, the staff at WineMaker sifted through a couple hundred entries to choose our favorites. And once again, the top label was submitted from Eric Rosenfeld. If that sounds familiar, this is Eric’s fourth time winning the grand prize (having also won in 2022, 2023, and 2024). Original artwork, beautiful colors and design, and a good story always make a recipe for success.
Eric isn’t the only repeat winner, as this year’s gold medal is awarded to Zoë Trebil (for an original oil painting for her father’s label) who also took home gold honors last year. For those looking for more variety, the 2026 silver and bronze awards are going to first-time winners! We’ve also got two pages worth of honorable mention labels that just missed out on the top prizes but are worth recognition.
As always, thank you to everyone who entered and to the companies sponsoring this year’s competition through generous prize donations, we couldn’t do this competition without them and all of you!
Grand Winner
Eric Rosenfeld • Scottsdale, Arizona
“I found this wine quiet, simple, even a little sweet. This image came to me in a dream. This is a picture of a marsh and my dog standing, staring into the fantastic, colorful sunset. The wine itself reminded me of this kind of scene, because it ends with a very full mouth, and yet quietly. This is a watercolor with the dog painted on top of it in acrylic. I also used Photoshop to lay in the other aspects of the label.”
Gold Medal
Zoë Trebil • Mound, Minnesota
“This submission is the latest oil painting I made as a gift for my dad (his name is Barry) for his birthday. It’s titled ‘Bears Brews.’ It’s an homage to all the fierce dedication I’ve seen him have towards achieving his dreams. The impact of even one person following their dreams fearlessly has a domino effect on everyone around them. That’s how this piece of art was born.”
Silver Medal
Tony DiStefano • Orinda, California
“The label was designed by my son, Drew, as a Christmas gift for me last year. This is all original artwork and the sleek, minimal design captures the view of our art-deco style house as you look uphill through the gently sloped main vineyard. We have 160 vines of mainly Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Viognier on our two-acre property, which we co-ferment into a red blend.”
Bronze Medal
Pierre JT de Villiers • Langebaan, South Africa
“I am a home winemaker on the west coast of South Africa. I make grape wines, but also established a label for my fruit wines. The name of my fruit wines is Metjieboks Kontreiwyne. This is in the local Afrikaans language. Loosely translated it means “Matchbox Country Wines.” The word metjieboks, or matchbox, is the family nickname of our seaside house, where my garage cellar is situated. It is a boxy upright house. The wording at the bottom means “Handcrafted in Langebaan, South Africa.”
Honorable Mention
View all of the winning labels from WineMaker’s 19th annual label contest.
It may be plonk, but - our grand prize winner shows - that doesn't mean the label can't be cool. See all the winners of WineMaker's annual label contest.
