Only those Vineyards who are fully paid up for the year by the date of the Competition are eligible to enter wines. Wine entries are divided into two categories:

Main

These are wines which are available for sale commercially

Special

These are wines from non-commercial vineyards or are wines that may need further work and are not ready or available for sale, are experimental or are older, special wines presented for judge assessment.

Trophies

‘The Pig Wessex Wine of the Year’ Trophy will be awarded to the wine scoring the highest average mark from the judges in the Main category.

The Best in Wessex sparkling Brut Trophy

The Best in Wessex sparkling Rose Trophy

The Best in Wessex still wine Trophy

For vineyards of 2ha or less:

The John Youles Trophy will be awarded to the still wine scoring the highest average mark from the judges for wines declared as being eligible, from either category.

The Roger Marchbank Trophy will be awarded on a similar basis to a sparkling wine.

Wine Classes

Wines must be entered into one of the following classes:

Class 1 White, dry, produced from any harvest

Class 2 White, not dry, produced from any harvest

Class 3 Rosé, any year

Class 4 Red, any year

Class 5a White Sparkling, any year,

Class 5b Rose Sparkling, any year

So long as they meet the requirements of the current wine regime based on EC 606 & 607 /2009, wines classified as Non-quality, Varietal, PGI or PDO are all eligible for entry.

Trophy winning wines may not be entered in the Main class in subsequent years.

Gold, Silver and Bronze medal certificates will be awarded to those wines that reach the required standard.

Entry Fee

The appropriate entry fee set by the Committee must accompany the entry form, if one is specified. (currently no charge)

Two clearly identified bottles (preferably labelled) of each wine in the Main Class are required.

The Special section requires only one bottle of each type to be submitted, together with a statement of the origin and reasons why the entrant feels that the wine has particular merit, written on the back of your Entry Form or in an accompanying email

An indication of the residual sugar and the acidity of the wine will help the organisers with setting out the tasting, please.