2023 TVOS Wine Competition

The annual wine competition will be judged in Gatlinburg this year.  In addition to awarding medals and other awards, our competition provides the judges's tasting notes to each winemaker.  The tasting notes provide valuable insites which many winemakers credit with helping them craft even better wines.  Medals and awards will be presented at the Annual Confernce Banquet on Sat, 2/25/23.

2023 Wine Competition

TVOS Amateur Winemaking Contest

ENTRY FORM

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all members in good standing and non-members of Tennessee Viticultural & Oenological Society, except for commercial winemakers. Wine competition judges will not be allowed to judge their own wine category. The Amateur Wine Competition is an opportunity for the hobbyist to receive constructive feedback on their wine making efforts to improve and to receive appropriate recognition.

The fee for 2023 competition for TVOS Members is $17 per bottle entered, $15 per bottle for entry of 6 or more bottles. Fee for nonmembers is $19 per bottle entered. Remember, TVOS Membership is only $35 and includes subscription to WineMaker® Magazine. A copy of Entry Form along with payment must be mailed to:

TVOS Amateur Wine Competition

Chris and Elizabeth Card

6685 Eudailey-Covington Rd

College Grove, TN 37046

Make checks payable to TVOS. The deadline for receipt of Entry Form and fee is Friday, January 6, 2023. Entry Forms arriving without proper payment will not be entered into competition. Each entrant is responsible to mail, hand carry or send one 750 ml bottle or two 375 ml bottles of each wine entered to one of the designated collection points with copy of completed Entry Form. On the form, write down total bottle count & have receiver do the same. Transporter will use those counts to ensure all are located before departing the collection point. Individual winery deadlines are listed below. If you attend the Annual Meeting, please consider bringing a bottle of each wine that you enter in competition to the conference to share. Anyone who wishes to donate a bottle or bottles of wine to TVOS will be greatly appreciated.

COLLECTION LOCATIONS (from west to east TN) & DROP-OFF DEADLINES

Century Farm Winery (Jackson) Thu., Jan. 12, 2023

1548 Lower Brownsville Rd.

Jackson, TN 38301

(731) 424-7437 spoke with Nika

Grinder’s Switch Winery (Centerville) Thu., Jan. 12, 2023

2119 Hwy 50 Loop

Centerville, TN 37033

(931) 729-3690 Spoke with Abby

Grinders’ Switch Winery (Nashville) Thu., Jan. 12, 2023

Dropoff on weekdays only-weekends too busy

1310 Clinton St. #125

Nashville, TN 37203

(615) 679-0646-Abby

Beachaven Winery (Clarksville) Thu., Jan. 12, 2023

1100 Dunlap Lane

Clarksville, TN 37040

(931) 645-8867 spoke with Sharis and Jill

Beans Creek Winery (Manchester) Thu., Jan. 12, 2023

426 Ragsdale Rd.

Manchester, TN 37355

(931) 723-2294 spoke with Becky

Stonehaus Winery (Crossville) Thu., Jan. 12, 2023

2444 Genesis Rd #103

Crossville, TN 38571

(931) 484-9463 spoke with Kathy

Tennessee Valley Winery (west of Knoxville) Thu., Jan. 12, 2023

15606 Hotchkiss Valley RD

Louden, TN 37774

(865) 986-5147 spoke with Jenny

Paul and Crystal Davidson Thu., Jan. 12, 2023

1069 West Oakland Ave

Johnson City, TN 37604

(423)383-2242

It is the responsibility of the participant to get their entries to one of these locations by the designated deadline. A member of the competition team will pick up wine entries at opening time the following day. If the deadline is missed, it will be their responsibility to have their entries at Marriott downtown Gatlinburg, TN on January 28, 2023. No wine will be accepted after this date. Neither wine nor bottles are returned to the participant. Each participant must leave a copy of their entry form with their wine. Form now includes the total bottle count to be verified with drop-off attendant & subsequently with transporter in an effort to ensure no entries are unaccounted for.

RULES AND DEFINITIONS – READ CAREFULLY

General: All wine must be produced and bottled from grapes, grape concentrates, fruit, fruit juice or honey. No entrant shall be involved in any way with commercial winemaking or use the facilities of commercial wineries, other than obtaining grapes, juice or concentrates. This is an amateur contest. Wines made from professional kits (pre-balanced & pasteurized juices) are welcome but will compete in their own class separately from wines made from fresh fruits & juices.

Varietal Wines: Wine named by variety must contain at least 75% of the named variety. If variety is less than 75%, the percentage of that variety must be stated on the label. See wine category table for additional information about varietals.

Estate Wines: For purposes of this competition, estate grown wines are those made from fruit or grapes grown by the winemaker or where the beekeeper was also the winemaker.

Blending: Blended wines are to be entered in the category determined by the major component.

Competition Labeling: Each bottle of wine must be labeled with the following information: Participant’s Name, Wine Category # and Category Name, Year of Harvest, Varietal Composition (to best of knowledge), and residual sugar content description: dry, semi-sweet, sweet, dessert.

Residual sugar is as measured by Dextro® Check (or equivalent):

Dry: Not more than 1% residual sugar

Semi Sweet: Greater than 1% and not more than 3.5% residual sugar

Sweet: Greater than 3.5% and not more than 12% residual sugar

Dessert: Greater than 12% residual sugar

NOTE: Wines which, in the opinion of the judges, are too sweet for the category will be penalized.

Judging: The Board of Directors automatically approves judges accredited by the American Wine Society. The Board will approve the qualifications of additional judges before each competition. Names of persons considered having qualifications for being judges are requested by the Board. Please submit names at any time.

Fees: Entry fee for TVOS Members is $17 per entry for less than 6 entries but drops to $15 if 6 or more bottles are entered.

Entry fee is $19 per entry (bottle) entered for Non-Members.

Awards:

Wine Awards will be given to every entry that achieves qualifying scores, rated by a panel of at least three judges, based on a twenty (20) point scale as approved by the TVOS Board of Directors. Scoring Sheets for still & sparkling wines are available upon request from the Board. Minimum qualifications are as follows:

Gold Awards 16-20 points

Silver Awards 14.5-15.9 points

Bronze Awards 13-14.4 points

The Best of Kits Award is given to the best kit wine (sweet or dry) started from a professional wine making kit. The top wines are entered into best-of-kits competition. A combined panel of judges will conduct a separate judging for the “Best of Kits” award. This award is intended to showcase winemakers using kits separately from those starting from fresh juices, grapes, fruit or honey.

Best of Class Awards will be given to at least two winemakers for best sweet and best dry wines in the non-kit wine competition. The top twenty gold medal wines are entered into the appropriate sweet or dry best-of-class competition. A combined panel of judges will conduct a separate judging for the “Best of Class” awards. These classes may be further subdivided as deemed appropriate by the wine competition coordinators.

The Estate Grown Award will be given to the winemaker/grower whose wine achieved the highest gold-level score. Only estate-gown wines achieving scores above 15.9 points will be considered.

The Tennessee Appellation Award will be given to the best wine made from 100% Tennessee-grown product(s). The purpose and aim for this award is to encourage our amateur winemakers to make the very best wine they can from Tennessee fruits. Entrants from out-of-state have the opportunity to compete by purchasing Tennessee fruit or honey. Entrants competing for this award will provide the name of the grower(s), whether it is yourself or someone else within Tennessee.

The Winemaker-of-the-Year Award will be given to the winemaker with the highest average score from their top six fresh fruit wine & mead entries in the competition. Winemakers submitting less than six fresh fruit wines or meads are, therefore, ineligible for this award.

The Kit Winemaker-of-the-Year Award will be given to the winemaker with the highest cumulative score from their top six kit wine & mead entries in the competition. Winemakers submitting less than six kit wines or meads are, therefore, ineligible for this award.

Exceptions: The TVOS Board of Directors may make temporary or permanent exceptions to the regulations.

Important! Pre-Registration, Fees & Schedule: Each entry must be pre-registered and fees paid to TVOS by Fri., Jan. 6, 2023 Mail your check and completed entry form to:

Chris and Elizabeth Card

6685 Eudailey-Covington Rd

College Grove, TN 37046

MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO – TVOS

WINE CATEGORIES –

Note: Blends should go into the    dominant class. Any category having a large number of entries of one variety    may be subdivided to make a separate category of that variety.    Qualifications for subdivision is at least six (6) entries of one variety in    a category with twelve (12) or more total entries.

Category

Description

Varietals

1   Red American Dry

Native or American Hybrid Concord,   Steuben, Cynthiana, Muscadine, etc. (or blends.)

2    Red American Sweet

Native or American Hybrid Concord,   Steuben, Cynthiana (aka Norton), Catawba, Muscadine, etc. (or blends.)

3    White American Dry

Native or American Hybrid Niagara,   Duchess, Carlos Magnolia, etc. (or blends.)

4    White American Sweet

Native or American Hybrid Niagara,   Duchess, Carlos, Magnolia, etc. (or blends.)

5    Red Hybrid Dry

French Hybrids Chancellor,   Chambourcin, Foch, etc. (or blends.)

6    Red Hybrid Sweet

French Hybrids Chancellor,   Chambourcin, Foch, etc. (or blends.)

7    White Hybrid Dry

French Hybrids Cayuga, Seyval,   Vidal, etc. (or blends.)

8    White Hybrid Sweet

French Hybrids Cayuga, Seyval,   Vidal, etc. (or blends.)

9    Red Vinifera Dry

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, etc. (or blends.)

10    Red Vinifera Sweet

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,   Zinfandel, etc. (or blends.)

11    White Vinifera Dry

Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon   Blanc, etc. (or blends.)

12    White Vinifera Sweet

Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon   Blanc, etc. (or blends.)

13    Grape Rose’ / Blush

Color must be appropriate. Can be   sweet or dry.

14    Non-Grape

Rose’ / Blush

Color must be appropriate. Can be   sweet or dry.

15    Non-Berry Fruit, Spice, Vegetables   & Flowers

Apples, Peaches, Pears, Tomato,   Peppers, Dandelion, Hibiscus, Herbs, Spices, etc. Sweetness can vary.

16    Non-Grape Berry

Blackberry, Raspberry, Strawberry,   etc.

Sweetness can vary.

17    Sparkling

These wines should have a lasting   effervescence. Sweetness can vary. They can be made from any grape or   non-grape produce. (Examples: Chardonnay, Apple, Vidal, Flowers, etc.)

18    Fortified Wines

These wines must have over 14%   alcohol per volume. (Examples: Ports, Sherries, Brandies, etc.)

19    Mead

Wine made from honey.