# Winemaker Magazine Conference



## jumpinfrog

I am going to the Winemaker Magazine wine conference next week at Cornell University. I was wondering if anyone else is going? The conference is sold out. If so please let me know.

Peggy


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## robie

Lucky-ducky!!!

I'd love to attend that, but not this time.

Have fun and let us know how it goes.


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## SarahRides

I'd love to go a conference some day, I'm probably going to be helping my sister in law move that weekend (actually both of them). As a newbie it would be interesting to go and learn!


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## tonyt

I can't go but have a couple bottles entered. If they call my name, pick up my trophy for me.


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## mvcrews

Results are up 

http://winemakermag.com/competition/past-winners

I not so humbly announce that I got a gold for a Cab that I got from Peter Brehm. I also sadly announce that the grower trippled his price this year and and I can no longer afford it


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## TJsBasement

Way to go Michael, congratulation on your gold.


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## Runningwolf

Congratulations


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## Chateau Joe

Here is a more direct link

http://winemakermag.com/images/stories/competition/2012winecompresults.pdf

Congrats on the gold!!

I see a 2011 WE Vit. Reserse Pinot Noir won a gold. That is really good for such a young wine and lower price kit.


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## TxBrew

mvcrews said:


> Results are up
> 
> http://winemakermag.com/competition/past-winners
> 
> I not so humbly announce that I got a gold for a Cab that I got from Peter Brehm. I also sadly announce that the grower trippled his price this year and and I can no longer afford it



Congrats! Lots of entries it looks like.


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## tonyt

Congrats to you. And yipee for me . . . Got a silver for my WE 2009 Montepulciano. Next year a gold!


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## WVMountaineerJack

We got 2 out of 3 the elderberry awards this year, it was nice to see someone else getting an award for elderberry also. we need some more elderberry winemakers entering next year so the judges know what good elderberry wine tastes like. Crackedcork


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## TJsBasement

Sh!t you guys are for real. I'll just creep back and read what ever bones you decide to throw.

Congrats to all that competed.


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## Julie

Congrats Cracked, it does not surprise me that you took all the awards and I really don't care how many entered, there could have been hundreds but I truly believe you would have stilled taken all the awards. Your knowledge of elderberry wines is extremely extensive.


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## Runningwolf

Congrats everyone!


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## jumpinfrog

*Winemaker Magazine 2012 Conference*

I just got back from the Winemaker Conference at Cornell. It was a great event. There were over 4300 wine entries. I won a bronze for Mango Mint. There were very interesting entries. As always this is a great event to attend and the seminars are very informative. 

Cheers

Peggy


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## winemaker_3352

Got a silver for the Strawberry Peach...

Congrats to all who won!!!


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## joeswine

*Winners all*

Proud to announce,that the south jersey wine makers ,one of our own won best in show for country wines,joseph wann,check out his blend,interesting isn't it?


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## WVMountaineerJack

Julie, its not wine against wine, its a point system, so multiple golds can be awarded for the same kind of wine on points, so we need more elderberry people out there to educate the judges on what good elderberry wines should taste like. Also, thanks, CC



Julie said:


> Congrats Cracked, it does not surprise me that you took all the awards and I really don't care how many entered, there could have been hundreds but I truly believe you would have stilled taken all the awards. Your knowledge of elderberry wines is extremely extensive.


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## Julie

CrackedCork said:


> Julie, its not wine against wine, its a point system, so multiple golds can be awarded for the same kind of wine on points, so we need more elderberry people out there to educate the judges on what good elderberry wines should taste like. Also, thanks, CC


 
thanks for letting me know that. You know what really surprises me is elderberrys run wild across the US and yes it may take a little effort to find a good batch but it's a little effort. I know some complain about the green goo but really I don't see that as a big issue. I just don't understand how there are not more people out there making elderberry wine. The wine is great, one of my favorites and it blends well with about just any other fruit out there.


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## joeswine

*julie*

TAKE a look at when good wines gone bad #16,and you'll see what he's talking about,remember that wine tasting like any other tasting is very,very subjective,and at that time.check out #16 plum wine ....


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## dangerdave

My Concord/Elderberry turned out great! Made from Vintner's Harvest wine base and local concord grapes.


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## Chateau Joe

jumpinfrog said:


> There were very interesting entries.


 
Yeah, the one that was 75% white grape juice and 25% fresh parsley sounded interesting.


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## Julie

joeswine said:


> TAKE a look at when good wines gone bad #16,and you'll see what he's talking about,remember that wine tasting like any other tasting is very,very subjective,and at that time.check out #16 plum wine ....


thanks Joe I will


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## tonyt

tonyt said:


> Got a silver for my WE 2009 Montepulciano. Next year a gold!


Got a congrats letter from Wine Expert and free wine kit of my choice.


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## ibglowin

Congrats Tony!


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## DirtyDawg10

Nice job, Tony!


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## Flem

Great job, Tony.


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## joeswine

*nice going*

great for you MR. T YOUR WINES ARE JUST FINE


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## ckassotis

Anyone sending wines in this year? I sent out 4 entries myself this AM.


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## robie

ckassotis said:


> Anyone sending wines in this year? I sent out 4 entries myself this AM.



I am going to enter my CC chardonnay at least. I am still considering my CC Cab/Shiraz and maybe another Chardonnay. I have a shipping container for 3 bottles... might as well fill it. The entry fee gets a little heavy, though.


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## seth8530

I am sending in a bottle of my black currant "port" into the port style category this afternoon.


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## winemaker_3352

I am sending out my Chardonel and Strawberry Peach this weekend..


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## ckassotis

Excellent! Glad to hear that we have some entries going on. I haven't entered into this one before, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but am mostly interested in comparing my judging notes/rating between the MVWS competition and this one.


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## elewis

I sent out my Concord this week and they have already received it. This is the first time I have entered and I'm excited just to see what they say about my wine.


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## seth8530

So I am getting excited, our wine gets tasted this weekend!!


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## seth8530

Annnnnnnnndddd today the tasting begins!!!


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## tonyt

Can't wait.


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## WVMountaineerJack

seth8530 said:


> Annnnnnnnndddd today the tasting begins!!!



An the first thing they said was "this aint no port"  Good Luck, WVMJ


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## seth8530

Hehe I hope not lol


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## mvcrews

Anyone else going to the conference in Monterey, CA this year?


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## seth8530

Three more days!!


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## seth8530

Ahhh the tension is killin!


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## WVMountaineerJack

Midnight CA time?


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## seth8530

Well, the award ceremony ends at 10 Cali time which is 1 Am EST time.. I hope they post the results quickly lol.


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## WVMountaineerJack

OK, did the guy who uploads stuff for WMM website forget his password or something? WVMJ


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## seth8530

I know right lol.. RESULTS ARE IN!!!

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f22/winemaker-magazine-conference-31582/index5.html


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## seth8530

And nothing for me, Guess I need to wait for the score cards.. Do they email them or snail mail em?


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## ckassotis

Looks like I managed a bronze for my viognier, which frankly I thought was the worst wine I sent. Really expected something for the mead, so I'm a bit surprised. Guess I'll need to wait for score sheets!


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## tonyt

Congrats Chris. And dont feel bad feel bad Seth, aparently the judges didnt like my Amarone as much as I do or as much as the judges in Pittsburgh did. But I did get a silver for my Ice Wine. That should be good for a free kit from WE. Yippee.


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## seth8530

Yeah, thanks for that. I think I will enter it into another competition in a few months and see if it fairs any better there. I just hope the score card has some details..... BTW does anyone know how they send those out?


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## Runningwolf

Seth I refuse to send bottles anymore to competitions that cost that much. I don't believe the judges are any better and a win is a win. Remember is is very subjective unless your wine has obvious flaws like some do. You can't believe what I have seen.


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## seth8530

Thanks, I will keep that in mind. Do you know when the next good competition might be?


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## tonyt

The Indy at Purdue is next and is extremely well run. Time to enter is now. Search Indy International Wine Competition. They provide excellent judges notes IMHO. The WMM notes and awards will come by mail in a few weeks. Actually the notes are less helpful than you might hope. They really cant analize your wine just give a quick opinion.


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## joeswine

*Trail and error*

IT'S all subjective ,not personnel, at least that's what you have to keep in your mind and keep moving forward in your thinking, never give up..................................THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX..


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## Runningwolf

tonyt said:


> The Indy at Purdue is next and is extremely well run. Time to enter is now. Search Indy International Wine Competition. They provide excellent judges notes IMHO. The WMM notes and awards will come by mail in a few weeks. Actually the notes are less helpful than you might hope. They really cant analize your wine just give a quick opinion.



I've been wanting to enter this one but once again $30 an entry. Of the two I would enter this before WMM I think. Heck I haven't even sent any to Bacchus (Joe) yet and he doesn't even charge anything.


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## WVMountaineerJack

Seth, dont call it a port, call it a dessert wine. Some years you send what you think is really good and it gets nothing, some years you send in a wild card and it goes all the way. I think that guy from Walnut creek has figured out exactly what the WMM judges want. I like my wines to much to change them for some judges. Yours on the other hand need some more work  WVMJ


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## Runningwolf

Along with what WVMJ said, I took best of show for a wine out in LA that didn't even place in another competition. That was me deciding factor of no longer entering expensive competitions. I can make 6 gallons of wine for the cost of 1-2 entries in some competitions.


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## seth8530

WVMJ, you are right I probobly should of entered it under a different category I also think you are right about that fella from wallnut creak rofl. 

Wolf, That is something worth thinking on. I will not enter any more competitions unless I know that they will give me some really good feedback. 

*joeswine*, You hit that right on the nail It is all about who is judging the wine and what they think they should be tasting. I plan on making 36 more gallons if wine this fall so I am hoping to be able to submit this to some more varied judgings and really work on my wine making.

tony, thanks for the info I will give that competition a looking at. I am not be able to enter though because my wine is not with me at the moment since I have temporarly moved out of the state for some summer work.


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## ckassotis

Yeah just to mirror what they've all said... I help out at the occasional festival, etc. for a local winery, and so get to talk to them about these things. They took a double gold at one competition for a dry red that didn't even medal at another competition. So it's the same deal even outside of the amateur competitions. All subjective.


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## joeswine

*Think about it!*

Think about it ,here you are going to enter a wine contest the first thing I like to do is get some background one the one on the wine taster's themselves if that is possible , or at the very least see if I can get some final judging. Example; what were the top wines that WON ,will categories within, how many different type the categories were in the wine contest over all .them I do is. I look at the history and I say to myself, well mostly in this particular contest there are heavy red wine entries and whites but not a whole lot of fruits or ports. Then I look at what I have and maximize my strength and minimize my weakness I am not going to go into a group of Reds when that is all he seems like . So why not in the other direction fruit wines blended wines 
blended fruit and white or red wines and fruit or just plain fruit, get my drift. If you are wines are really strong and you as a winemaker have to acknowledge this them. Why waste your time and effort for just feed back you can get that here on line to swap somebody asked for the truth.

So when I went to the last contest here in Hampton I investigated the winners before, strong on red wines all types , all styles strong ,from entering this contest before I know I won first place with my raspberry ,I won first place with my frescati, both of these are judges choice, the raspberry was also the peoples choice . So that became a 2/4 so I skipped two years and entered it in the white ,the red, fruit, and that and a category called port, as they referred to it as port sweet wines ........................ Took it all
this contest only was $40.for .buffet,. Ad as many bottles as I .wanted to enter,. S maybe what I am getting a. Sable to the contest when and o. Se wit. Yur strengt. Ad weaknesses ar. A far as winemakin. Cmpare tha. T the winners that they have ha. Ad styles of wines that won .the more selectiv. and what you sen


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## seth8530

That is a really good idea, I did not really think in the past o really scout out the competition. I should do that next time. I might just wait untill this fall to enter into the next round of competitions since I will not have access to my wine until then anyways....


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## joeswine

*No place like home*

I'm not sure were you live at but try and stay close to home in competitions, once you've got your knocks, and the finances, then venture out, just my way........


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## seth8530

Good idea. I usually live in Knoxville or Etowah TN. But right now I am in fortmill SC working for URS for the summer. So I had to leave a lot of my stuff behind. My wine being one of them.


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## WVMountaineerJack

So your a virtual winemaker now, maybe one of us can capture some fermentation vapors in a bottle and send them to you to open up while you are dreaming up your next batches  WVMJ


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## seth8530

Hehe, about all I can do eh? That and plot new batches of wine. It is no coincidence that I have been posting so much in the past few weeks lol.


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## seth8530

Ok, I am uploading my judging results for everyone to see. That way we could perhaps encourage others to also post theirs. When the wine was judged it was around 13 months old. I am defiantly mildly disappointed with the results. I wonder if the reason why the judged the taste and after taste so harsh was because of category I put it in. Around the July 4 weekend I will do my own tasting with some friends and we will see if we can find these flaws.


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## ibglowin

Seth did I miss the details of what wines you entered in another post? I see you entered a Black Current Port. What were the other two?


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## seth8530

Those are three different score cards for the Black Current Port all entered into the port style category.


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## WVMountaineerJack

I think someone tried to talk you into another category Black currant is a hard one to do, its very strong, the judges are not used to such intensity and the acid levels are hard to balance. Only important thing is you like it! WVMJ


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## seth8530

I am going to try and wait it out. I hope after some time it might come into ballance, if not oh well. I know atleast one person who will drink it eh (;


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## Runningwolf

I agree with the others. Is this more of a brandy rather than a Port? Careful how much you drink. By next year in a different category this might be a totally different wine after some aging. Hang in there buddy and quit making crap. LMAO Kidding, I think just give it some time.


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## seth8530

Runningwolf said:


> I agree with the others. Is this more of a brandy rather than a Port? Careful how much you drink. By next year in a different category this might be a totally different wine after some aging. Hang in there buddy and quit making crap. LMAO Kidding, I think just give it some time.



Thanks wolf, I will give it more time. Mine is much closer to a port with the abv being off the top of my head in between 18-20%. The only thing that truly disappoints me is the lack of good tasting notes from this competition. Nothing that they wrote on there will help make me a better wine maker. Thus, I am moving on to better competitions in the future.

Next year, I will make sure to enter it into a different competition that gives better notes and I will make sure to put it into a better category as well.

BTW, does any one else find it strange that an overwhelming majority of the wines that meddled at the competition were kit wines?


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## Runningwolf

I did not look over the winners list. A preacher friend of mine took about six medals for wine from grapes and many of our juice customers got medals. 

I wouldn't enter it due to cost. I very rarely ever see judges notes that will help you become a better wine maker. They just judge the wine for what it is. I was hoping for the same thing when I first started entering competitions. 

That's the great thing about wmt we help each other.


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## blazerpb

I entered three wines (made from grapes) this past year in four separate competitions. I tried to avoid those competitions that were heavily sponsored by the wine kit manufacturers.
Competitions entered were one in Ct. one in NJ and two in Missouri.
2011 Sangiovese, 2010 Super Tuscan and 2011 Petite Syrah. The 2011 Sangiovese was my favorite followed by the Super Tuscan ( a little too fruit forward for my liking) and the Petite Syrah was Ok but there was something about it that was off and I could not put my finger on it. The Petite Syrah was entered primarily to get feedback.
The 2011 Sangiovese received a Gold, two Silvers and a Bronze. Super Tuscan received two golds and two silvers. Petite Syrah did not medal in any of the competitions. However, in one competition it received a 17.5 out of 20 from one judge.
Most all judges were in line with what I felt about the wines but as Seth said above no real feedback on what the problem was and how to correct on my Petite Syrah. Except for one judge that took the time to write several comments on her thoughts on my Petite Syrah and how she would correct the problem. 
I found my best feedback came from bringing the wine to one of the award dinners. Every one there was an avid wine maker and had no problems giving me ideas.


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## ibglowin

At $25 a pop X ~4600 wines entered makes $115K in revenue just from that alone. Not so much a wine competition as it is a money making machine for the Magazine.



seth8530 said:


> The only thing that truly disappoints me is the lack of good tasting notes from this competition. Nothing that they wrote on there will help make me a better wine maker. Thus, I am moving on to better competitions in the future.


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