How We Judge

* The judging will be conducted by panels of qualified tasters.
* The judging will be held in Santa Rosa, California.
* When there are fewer than three entries per category, the wines may be judged in different categories. Any placement in, or removal from a category will be at the discretion of the head judge. Judging by vintage, price, region, etc. will be at the discretion of the head judge.
* If the judges are faced with an obviously flawed bottle of wine, no more than one additional bottle of the same entry will be opened and tasted.
* At the discretion of the white wine judging panels, the head judge may have the wines checked by a professional lab for residual sugar. White wines entered in “dry” categories must contain less than 0.3% residual sugar. Wines with more than 0.3% must have the percent listed on the entry form.
* Awards will be given on a merit basis. The judges are instructed to grant no awards when, in their opinion, the wines are unworthy, and they are empowered to grant duplicate awards if the quality of wines so merits.