Illinois State Fair Wine Competition
Sponsored by: The Illinois Grape Growers & Vintners Association
Watch a Video about the Illinois Wine Competition
Competition: June 17-19, 2013
Lincoln Land Community College
Competition Entry Deadline:
June 11, 2013
Click here for the COMMERCIAL Wine Competition Booklet
Click here for the AMATEUR Wine Competition Booklet
Click here for the WINE LABEL AND PACKAGING Competition Booklet
This year’s competition will again be held at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield on June 17-19. It is open exclusively to commercial wineries in Illinois and regional amateur producers of wine and hard cider.
Last year, there were approximately 250 commercial entries and 140 amateur entries. We thank those of you who have participated in the past and for your continued support in this year’s competition. We have developed a competition whose sole goal is to improve the quality of wine throughout Illinois. We provide feedback from the judges, something that few other competitions take the time to do. In other words, if a submitted wine does not receive a medal, there is a good chance that the judges will have some comments or suggestions as to what went wrong, and how to fix it. We also have worked had to keep entry fees and wine amounts as low as possible.
Back by popular demand is the Wine Label and Packaging Competition. A panel comprised of graphic designers and wine retailers will evaluate your entries.
Entry applications, rules and requirements are linked above or by contacting Megan Pressnall, IGGVA Director of External Relations. Entries may be received from May 11 - June 11.
Wine evaluations will be conducted blind by three panels of four judges. Each panel is designed to provide a tremendous depth and variety of experience, with special emphasis on hybrid wine styles and sensory characteristics. Judging will be based on color, balance, aroma, clarity, taste and finish. Entries will be judged independently using the Davis 20-point score card. All gold medal winners will then compete for the ”Best of Show” designations as well as other top awards. The special recognition of “Governor’s Cup” will be awarded to the best red, white, rose, fruit and dessert/sparkling wines produced from Illinois-grown fruit.
We continue to recruit a world-class group of judges, including:
Eric Da Costa, Rouge Wine Cellars
Mary Lynn Gietl-Deloney, Corkscrew Wine Emporium
August Mrozowski, Augie’s Front Burner
Stephen Somermeyer, Chateau Thomas Winery
Bradley Taylor, Southern Illinois University
Sam Vandegrift, Wirtz Beverage
Jeffery Wheeler, University of Kentucky
Lindsay Record, Illinois Stewardship Alliance
The Illinois State Fair Wine Competition is dedicated to maintaining the highest level of judging precision and integrity. Additionally, it is our goal to attempt to provide as much positive feedback to the entrants as possible, and provide any suggestions for future product improvement where applicable. We thank you for your continued support, and look forward to another great competition this year!
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