4,564 entries
923 wine flights
2,282 total judging hours
50 American states
8 Canadian provinces
9 Countries
From April 19 to 21, 2013, a record total of 4,564 different wines were judged at the Burlington Hilton in Burlington, Vermont. This year’s competition was the largest in our 11-year history and is the largest wine competition of its kind in the world. The 4,564 entries arrived from hobby winemakers living throughout North America in all 50 American states and 8 Canadian provinces and as far away as Italy and Australia. Over the course of three days, experienced judging panels worked through 923 flights, examining each wine using the UC-Davis 20-point wine scale evaluating appearance, aroma, taste, aftertaste and overall impression. The wines were entered in 50 different categories and included an astonishing array of varietals and wine styles. Kit wines competed alongside fresh-grape entries in this blind tasting. Entries were awarded gold, silver, bronze and best of show medals based on the average score given by the judging panel. The Grand Champion wine medal was the top overall scoring wine across all categories. The Club of the Year was given to the club whose members won the most medals and the Retailer of the Year and U-Vint of the Year awards were given to the winemaking supply stores whose customers outperformed other similar shops. Finally the Winemaker of the Year award was given to the individual entrant who had the highest average score across their top five scoring wines in the competition.
Congratulations to everyone who won a medal, and a sincere thanks to our sponsors, judging director Gene Spaziani, competition director Ric Quental, our judges, competition volunteers and everyone who took time to enter.
Grand Champion Wine
Dave Deters
Ottawa, OH
100% Cranberry 2011
Best of Show Red
Ed Szubielski
Laguna Niguel, CA
100% Pinot Noir 2011
Best of Show Kit/Concentrate
Chere Wiseman • Surrey, BC
100% RJ Spagnols En Primeur Malbec
Best of Show Dessert
Rex Johnston and Barbara Bentley
Walnut Creek, CA
100% Dessert Style Loganberry 2012
Best of Show White
Wayne Thomsen • Calgary, AB
100% Winexpert Selection Limited
Edition Pacifica White 2010
Best of Show
Country Fruit
Tim Cunfer • Lehighton, PA
100% Black Raspberry
Best of Show Estate Grown
Bill Sisler • Paso Robles, CA
100% Cabernet Sauvignon
WineMakers of the Year
Rex Johnston and Barbara Bentley
Walnut Creek, CA
Best of Show Sparkling
Larry Morrison • Newark, OH
100% RJ Spagnols Orchard Breezin’ Watermelon White Merlot
U-Vint of the Year
Grapes 4 U • British Columbia
Best of Show Mead
Shane and Carrie Ferguson
Crosby, TX
100% Wildflower Honey 2012
Retailer of the Year
Quality Wine and Ale Supply • Elkhart, IN
Club of the Year
Sacramento Home Winemakers
Sacramento, CA
For a full list of all our medal winners please visit our webpage that offers a downloadable pdf of the complete award results:
winemakermag.com/competition
Not using oak on wine is a time-honored tradition for many varietals and styles, and often for good reason. There are few things as disconcerting and deeply weird as a heavily oaked Riesling, and few rosé wines show better with a heavy layer of deeply toasted oak covering their finish. Oak just doesn’t make sense with many highly floral-aromatic wines, which is why only a few of them get exposed to it,…
Summer is the time for berries, and that means berry wines. Loaded with flavor and unique aromas, chilled berry wines on warm summer afternoons lend credence to the lyrics, “It’s summertime, and the living is easy . . .” Here are 15 summer berries suitable for wine that you can ferment as soon as the fruit is harvested to make delicious wines to enjoy next spring or summer. Blackberry One of the…
