# WineMakers Competition



## Tom (Jan 1, 2010)

*
OK winemakers, who plans on entering and if so how many? The event was HUGE last year with I believe over 4700 bottles entered*


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## outdoorsmadness (Jan 1, 2010)

when and where is this competition held, not that i have anything worth entering, just curious is all.


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## Tom (Jan 1, 2010)

outdoorsmadness said:


> when and where is this competition held, not that i have anything worth entering, just curious is all.




Here is the info

http://www.winemakermag.com/competition


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## outdoorsmadness (Jan 1, 2010)

cool, are you entering anything?


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## Tom (Jan 1, 2010)

Not sure. Reason is its geared to KITS. I make mostly wine from juice and fruit. I have won many medals in the past but I feel the judges "taste" are geared to kits not from
grapes or juice.


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## Wade E (Jan 1, 2010)

I dont think thats true. Rich won many medals when he entered a few of his grape wines last year and my friend entered 2 wines from grapes from M&M and took 1 medal from them. That being said Im not sure if I will due to finances but I will try this year, In the past it was definitely a NO but will try to enter a few!


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## Tom (Jan 1, 2010)

Well at least it's only ONE bottle they want.
Dont get me wrong the medals I won were NOT from kits. But, I feel Kits get more play than graps, Juice, Blended or Fruit wines. Amazing using the same scoring system I know of those who won Gold and best of show in other competitions yet not medaled here.


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## Wade E (Jan 1, 2010)

I think the problem here is that 90% of the wines enetered are kits, thats why so many kits win!


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## smurfe (Jan 2, 2010)

My biggest problem with this comp is their judges. The last time I entered this comp a certain LARGE manufacturer entered at least a dozen categories with wines aged at the time frame they state are quite drinkable ( normally 3-6 months) and medal with these wines. I have absolutely no problem with these wines but at 6 months of age they have not reached a maturity level yet and will still have off tastes. Particularly Kit Taste and if their judges can not detect kit taste, they ought to not be a judge. I find it unusual that any red wine could gather a gold medal score with only 6 months of age on that wine.


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## arcticsid (Jan 2, 2010)

No kidding, 4700 bottles? Thats incredible. I had no idea this whole wine making thing could be so serious. I do it because it is as much fun as cooking and it's cheap. And then of course now I am hooked. Wow. Do you need to be present when they do the judging?

Seems to me, you would be at a disadvantage if your entry was judged toward the end of the competition, because by the end the judges would be pretty trashed?


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## Wade E (Jan 2, 2010)

You do not need to be present at all Troy and there are a lot of judges doing this tasting. At our local one we had 12 judges for about a 400 wines to be judged. Im hoping they have much more then that and probably spread that out over 2 days.


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## arcticsid (Jan 2, 2010)

Thats quite interesting, I have never looked at wine making from that corner of the room.

I wonder if they would let me enter my "Cat Hair Cabarnet"?

(Wade, did you ever get my PM response about NZ? I am starting to worry about the PM. Let me know it works.)


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## Hillbilly Bill (Jan 2, 2010)

If you make your wine from a kit and modify it... say you add banana pulp to the primary and maybe add an additional flavor or two to the f-pack, would that be legal?


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## Racer (Jan 2, 2010)

Sure its "legal" to do what ever you want to do to a wine. It must be made by you but you can tweak it any way you want to. Just remember that it will be judged by the standard for that category that you entered it in. In other words if you entered a cab. kit wine that you sweetened to your taste it probably wont win you a medal because cabs. aren't normally made as a sweet wine.


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## Hillbilly Bill (Jan 2, 2010)

Thanks Racer... not that I will enter, but I need to know in case I got crazy and wanted to enter down the road. First I will have to get serious about making better wine and second I will need to be aging some wine to enter. I doubt many "green" wines do well in these events... maybe some whites, but I know very little about white wines... heck, I don't know much about any of the wines.
Thanks...
Bill


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## Racer (Jan 2, 2010)

See if there is a smaller competition closer to your home that you can send into. The biggest reason (for me) to enter a competiton is to get an unbiased opinion of a wine and hopefully a suggestion or two. The bigger the event gets the harder it is for the judges to have the time to give you a complete set of notes from your entry. The last winemaker mag. that I entered 1 entry had half a dozen words tops from 3 judges combined! 

If I enter any one this year it might be my own state's fair competiton.


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## Omerta (Jan 4, 2010)

most of the sponsors are kit producers.


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## Omerta (Jan 4, 2010)

To those who compete...
Whats the age of the wine you use to compete with?


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## Chateau Joe (Jan 14, 2010)

I will be there. I had two entries last year and won 1 bronze for my pinot noir. I'm not sure yet, but I believe I will be entering 3 or 4 this year.


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## Chateau Joe (Jan 14, 2010)

Omerta said:


> To those who compete...
> Whats the age of the wine you use to compete with?



That depends on what wine you are entering. My pinot this year is 2 years old. Some Ocean Breezin' kits could probably be entered at 1 year old or a little less.


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## grapeman (Jan 19, 2010)

I'm not sure how many I will enter this year. Last year I entered 8 wines with only one from a kit- that one won Mosti Monidale's only gold medal. It was a Mosti Renaissance Amarone kit, which beat out their Meglioli Amarones. The others were from grapes I grew. Altogether I got 6 medals, including a gold for LaCrescent. I was lucky in that the ones that medaled were judged by cold hardy grape veterans. The two wines that didn't medal were judged by some less than stellar judges, especially of dry white wines. One judge rated the Chardonel as SOUR, while the other two judges rated it as refreshingly acidic and extremely aromatic- so yes the quality of the juge has an effect. I have some wines from 2009 that are as good now as the ones that medaled last year, so time will tell what I might enter. 

Since it is an amateur competition, this will probably be my last year to enter.


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## Chateau Joe (Jan 27, 2010)

grapeman said:


> I'm not sure how many I will enter this year. Last year I entered 8 wines with only one from a kit- that one won Mosti Monidale's only gold medal. It was a Mosti Renaissance Amarone kit, which beat out their Meglioli Amarones. The others were from grapes I grew. Altogether I got 6 medals, including a gold for LaCrescent. I was lucky in that the ones that medaled were judged by cold hardy grape veterans. The two wines that didn't medal were judged by some less than stellar judges, especially of dry white wines. One judge rated the Chardonel as SOUR, while the other two judges rated it as refreshingly acidic and extremely aromatic- so yes the quality of the juge has an effect. I have some wines from 2009 that are as good now as the ones that medaled last year, so time will tell what I might enter. .



LOL! I had the same issue. I had three judges and each one had a different opinion at each end of the spectrum. One judge thought my pinot noir tasted great another one thought it had a chemical taste. Very frustrating!!

I'm not an expert on human anatomy but I was told that a human taste bud can only taste 6 things before it gets tired.


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## non-grapenut (Jan 27, 2010)

with all the various categories, it's kinda confusing to decide which to choose. Ice wine? Huh? WHAT is that? I have a sparkling blueberry/billberry I am considering entering...


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## Wine-O (Jan 27, 2010)

I am also going to enter this year just not sure which ones yet. I have a total of 28 different kinds and ages to pick from. Last year I entered 15 of my wines and recieved 6 medals. This year I'm going to go a little easier and pick out the better ones in my opinion. I have 12 wines entered in a local competition here in North Jersey on Friday so I will probably see how I do there before I make a decision. I am going to drive my entries to Vermont myself sometime in February if anyone lives close enough and wants me to bring theirs. I have friends that live in Lake George, NY and it's a good excuse to make a visit! Good Luck All!!


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## Omerta (Jan 30, 2010)

I'm working hard to develop the knowledge and skill to possibly be able to enter mine in the future. Not there yet though.


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