Wisconsin Vinters Association

Wisconsin Vintners Association

(Home Wine Makers Club)

2010 Amateur Competitions

Annual Club Judging is Sunday, March 14

2010 Results (PDF)

This year’s Club Judging will be held on Sunday March 14, 2010. This annual competition is open to all club members. Please mark down this date. We will be looking for members to help out with set up, wine stewarding, judging (apprentice judges welcome) etc. No experience necessary for most of the jobs.

The purpose of this event is threefold:

• An opportunity for club members to have their wines evaluated in a formal manner, based upon similar judging criteria used by major wine competitions around the country.

• Club members can get an early indication of their wine’s potential to receive an award at the Wisconsin State Fair that is held later in the year.

• The Club Judging provides a training opportunity for prospective wine judges and stewards. The WVA provides the judges and stewards used in the WI State Fair competition.

2010 Rules & Regulations (PDF)

The ribbons awarded to the winners are created by the club and there is a traveling wall plaque for the Best of Show winner, currently in Larry Legare’s possession.

2009 Amateur Competitions

2009 WVA Club Judging

2009 Award List Results by Name

2009 HWBTA International Amateur Wine Competition

The HWBTA 2009 International Amateur Wine Competition will be held on April 18. Entry deadline is April 11. The Purple Foot is the local sponsor and will ship the bottles to Akron, OH where the judging takes place. If interested, please contact the Purple Foot for an entry form and more details at 414-327-2130 or at www.purplefootusa.com.

2008 Amateur Competitions

2008 WI State Fair Amateur Winemaking Competition

Final Results (PDF)

2008 WVA Club Judging

Best of Show

Jerry Wanty with his Diamond Grape Wine

1st Place Winners

Tom Courtney, Armin Engelmann, Howard Hasselkus,

Ginny Herrmann, Al Krueger, Tim Larsen, Bob Meyer,

Tom Ruby, Bob Sielaff, Jerry Wanty and Jim Wirsching-Neuser

Click here for the complete award list (PDF).

2007 Amateur Competitions

March 11, 2007 WVA Amateur Winemaking Club Judging

Club Judging Award List

March 24, 2007 Jenny Falls Corkmasters Inter-Club Wine Challenge

For the past few years other amateur winemaking clubs in Wisconsin have been coming together for an annual winemaking competition. Last year the Jenny Falls Corkmasters, the Central Wisconsin Amateur Wine Club and the Sun Prairie Wine Club participated in the event. This year the WVA has been invited and we thankfully have agreed to join in the fun.

This year's competition will be held on Saturday, March 24, 2007 at the Labor Temple in Wausau, WI. Each club is asked to provide a total of 30 entries. Individual 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons as well as Best of Show and 2nd Best of Show will be awarded. A traveling trophy will be awarded to the highest rated club, based upon a point system.

The individual entries for this Wine Challenge must be handled as a group. A maximum of three entries per member can be submitted with one guaranteed to be entered into the challenge. The fee is $3.50 for each. One’s second and/or third bottle may also be selected for entry in order to meet the 30 entry club total allowed. Award winners of the WVA Club Judging will be given the highest selection priority. Entry fees will be returned for all non selected entries. The deadline for submitting the entry forms, fees and bottles is the same as for our club judging. Howard Hasselkus has kindly offered to transport our club’s entries.

The Wine Challenge is also looking for people to help with the competition (judges, stewards, etc). They’ve also arranged for lunch at $6 per and dinner at $12 per person. The judging is to start at 9 AM on Saturday, March 24, there will be raffles and other fundraising activities and 2 seminars, one on wine appreciation and another on the influence of acid in wine. If you are interested in attending or have any other questions please call Howard Hasselkus at 262-786-3298.

This year they also have a wine label contest for an entry fee of $1 per label. This is an individual only event. See more information below.

The following are the specific details of the event and rules for this competition:

2007 Wine Challenge Details Individual Club Entry Form

HWBTA 2007 International Amateur Wine Competition
US entry deadline is April 21, 2007 . Click here for more information.

2007 WI State Fair Amateur Winemakers Competition
The event this year will take place on Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19. Click here for more information.

2006 Amateur Competitions

Click on the following links for the results:

2006 Wisconsin State Fair Amateur Winemakers Competition

2006 Wisconsin State Fair Homebrewer's Show

2006 WVA Club Judging Award Winners