WINE

Section 160 – WINE

Awards: Medallions for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place
Entry Fee: $0.00
Chair: Nancy Puetz, 615-790-0400
Pre-Entry: Call to make arrangements to drop off entries early.
Entry: Thursday, Aug. 5     9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Judging: Saturday, Aug. 7     3:00 p.m.
Required pick-up date: Sunday, Aug. 15     10:00 – 2:00 p.m.

RULES & REGULATIONS

  1. Amateur winemakers residing in Williamson County or who are members of the Tennessee Viticulture Oenological Society are eligible to enter non-commercial TN wines.
  2. An amateur winemaker makes wine either alone or in collaboration with other winemakers. If there is collaboration, all persons must be named on the entry form and are considered one entrant. Because this is an AMATEUR competition, no individual or any member of the group should be directly involved in commercial winemaking. Commercial winemaking is a business enterprise certified as a bonded winery, authorized by BATF for the production and sale of wine. Any persons who own, manage, supervise or are receiving any form of compensation (money, grapes, wine, etc.) for being involved with the operation of any non-residential wine making facility (wine school, wine club, etc.) may NOT enter the Williamson County Fair Wine Competition.
  3. Fruits/juices must be home prepared and be free of artificial coloring or flavor enhancers other than oak.
  4. Two 750 mL bottles (two 375 mL bottles for Ice Wines) of each wine entry must be submitted in corked or capped bottles for every wine entered. No entries will be returned.
  5. Only one entry per class per entrant.
  6. Judges evaluate wine on color, clarity, bouquet, flavor and overall presentation (exclusive of the label, bottle, etc.)
  7. Amateur winemakers may not use the facilities or products, other than juice (which may be sulfited), of a commercial winery during any stage of wine preparation and/or storage of the wine.
  8. The number of entries is limited to a maximum of twelve (12) wines per entrant. Twelve (12) wines from a husband and twelve (12) wines from his wife will NOT be allowed. An entrant may submit only one (1) wine in any subcategory except for the “Other” category where more than one (1) can be submitted, if each wine is of a different variety. A wine that has received an award in a previous Williamson County Fair Competition is not eligible.
  9. Wine Classification Rules include the following:
    1. Grape varieties as varietals are classified as Vinifera, Hybrid, and Native. The origin of many Native varieties is unknown because of spontaneous hybridization. These grapes will be classified as Native in this competition.
    2. Wines entered as varietals should contain at least 75% of that variety and should not be blended with any other varieties that markedly alter the primary varietal characteristics of that wine. For Vinifera/Hybrid, Hybrid/Native, etc. see “Blends” description.
    3. Varietals less than 75% should be entered as “Blends”.
    4. No wine shall be accepted if it contains more than 25% of any grape variety of the same vintage from which another wine was made which is entered in any other category or subcategory, with the exception that the same varietal wine can be entered in the Aperitif/Dessert, Rose (for Red varieties) or Sparkling categories if it is the result of a separately fermented batch.
  10. “Blends” that include grape wine and fruit wine must be entered in the Fruit category. Fruit or non-grape wines which are sparkling or fortified must be entered in the respective Sparkling or Aperitif/Dessert categories.
  11. All wines judged will be judged according to their relative merits within the class. The “BEST OF SHOW” winner will be that wine which is clearly superior in its class and has an overall enological excellence that surpasses all otherwines in the competition.
  12. It is the responsibility of the entrant to ship or deliver the entry wines in goodcondition. A sheet of personalized labels for the bottles will be mailed back to the winemaker after he/she has registered. Do not write on this label. Entries will be disqualified if other labels or capsules are left on the bottle.
  13. For classification purposes, wines are listed below:

WINE CLASSES

  1. White Vinifera – Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, Other White Vinifera Varietals, White Vinifera Blends
  2. Red Vinifera – Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Pinot Noir, Other Red Vinifera Varietals, Red Vinifera Blends
  3. White Hybrid – Seyval, Vidal Blanc, Cayuga, White Hybrid Varietals, White Hybrid Blends
  4. Red Hybrid – Chambourcin, DeChaunac, Other Red Hybrid Varietals, Red Hybrid Blends
  5. White Native American – Varietals, Blends
  6. Red Native American – Varietals, Blends
  7. Fruit-Other Wines- Apple/Pear, Stone Fruits (e.g. peach, plum), Raspberry/Blackberry, Other Berries (e.g. strawberry, elderberry), Others, including blends & flavored
  8. Aperitif/Dessert – Dry-Semi-dry Fortified, Sweet Dessert Fortified Wines, Sweet Non- Fortified Over 3 Yrs, Dessert Non-Fortified over six years
  9. Sparkling – Grape, Non-Grape, including blends with grapes
  10. Rosé – Blush, pink or rose colored
  11. Blends – White, Red