Ready to enter your wines in the SHW Jubilee?

But are you a sometimes confused about awards given in wine competitions? You’re not alone. While similar, home/amateur wine competitions have different individual and collective award structures that change often. We encourage entrants to read the fine print.

Any wine entered in the Jubilee earns an individual award: Double-Gold, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Honorable Mention, and No Award. Below is a brief explanation, in reverse, of each award.

  • No Award: this designation signals a wine that is usually flawed with a bacterial infection, may be highly oxidized, and/or has other issues that generally makes the wine unrecoverable.
  • Honorable Mention: generally, these wines don’t have entrenched flaws but could have the beginnings of issues that require intervention.
  • Bronze: good wine making effort; the wine could benefit from more attention. These wines may also have low level flaws, such as Brettanomyces or volatile acidity, that can enhance the wine if managed.
  • Silver: wines that have solid “bones”, reflect varietal characteristics and may benefit from time and/or wine making adjustments.
  • Gold: wines are well-balanced and excellent representatives of the variety / blend in color, nose, taste, and finish.
  • Double-Gold: like Golds, the judges really like this wine and the entire panel initially gives the wine a Gold award.

What’s the diff between a Gold and Double-Gold?

  • At SHW’s Jubilee, 3 judges are seated per panel.
  • Once a flight is poured, wines are individually evaluated by each judge (judge’s 1st score) without discussion with panel peers.
  • When all of the wines within the flight are individually evaluated, then the panel judges discuss each wine amongst themselves.
  • Adjustments can be made and the judges all agree on each wine’s final award (judge’s second score).
  • If a wine is awarded a Gold AFTER discussion, the wine earns a Gold award. Example: the judge’s initial scores are Siver, Gold-, and Gold. Post-discussion, the judges decide that this wine earns a Gold. It cannot be awarded a Double-Gold.
  • If a wine is awarded a Gold by all 3 judges BEFORE discussion (judge’s 1st score), it a given a Double-Gold award, and the award does not change.

So, at the Jubilee, what happens to Gold and Double-Gold awarded wines? Let’s talk about those and other competition awards a near future blog post.

In the meanwhile, register your Jubilee wine entries online. Your first two wine entries are free. Delivery your entries at various drop-off locations or you can bring your entries to the April 15 SHW meeting. Last day to enter is April 22.