About the Competition
The OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition, created and continuously run by the Orange County Wine Society since 1976, is widely accepted as California’s largest, most prestigious, and most meticulously judged California-only wine competition in the world. Our competition is double-blind. Throughout the judging process, each wine is evaluated by at least four judges. All of our judges are renowned winemakers and/or winery principals.
The competition is open to commercially wines produced from California-grown grapes. There is no entry fee – we only request 6 bottles per entry. There are no additional charges or hidden fees.
Professional Judging
Wines entered are judged by 90+ of the most renowned winemakers and winery principals in the Country.
No Fee
There is no fee charged to enter the competition. Only Six (6) bottles of each entry are required to enter (three (3) bottles for limited production wineries producing a total of less than 1,000 cases of wine a year).
Online Results
Award winners are published year-round on www.WineCompetition.com, the worldwide accessible interactive results website featuring wine photographs, detailed wine information and direct links to winery websites
Award Level
Medals awarded are Double Gold, Gold, Silver and Bronze, with the with the most outstanding wine in each category further awarded Best of Class designation. Wineries designate the minimum award level to be published.
Social Media
Medal winners are featured in a variety of ways on our Social Media accounts, with the highest award levels receiving personalized postings.
Marketing to Consumers
Wines entered in our competition are served to the public at the OC Fair in July and August.
The Best California Wines
Recognized and Rewarded
- We display information on your winery and your awarded wines with a link to your website.
- If you would prefer to suppress publication certain level of awards, you make that choice during the online entry.
- The OC Fair is a great place to get your award-winning wines tasted. Our staff is qualified to discuss varietals and encourage our customers to try a winery (or wine) they are not familiar with.
Winery Benefits
Entering your wines into the competition will increase your brands’ awareness and increase sales with our active social media campaigns. Throughout the year, we post tweets about submitted wines, using your content. Our public Facebook page also contains wine-related content. During the OC Fair, wines are poured at the 7,300 square foot Wine Courtyard, exposing your wines to 1.3 million fair attendees. This venue is staffed by the Wine Society’s members that are able to intelligently discuss the wines they are pouring.
Our Judges
The 90 experienced judges are comprised of only qualified winemakers or winery principals. This group is a combination of seasoned professionals representing almost every AVA in the State of California. Ranging in experience from 10 to 40 years, they are extremely qualified to fairly evaluate wines of diverse characteristics.
Orange County Wine Society
The Orange County Wine Society was founded in 1976 as a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit to support public wine education for home winemakers and wine enthusiasts. Soon after it was founded, OCWS began hosting the OC Fair Commercial and Home Wine Competitions, presenting the results and the wines during the OC Fair. Both competitions are the largest of their kind. OCWS also hosts a number of educational programs throughout the year. In 1981, the OCWS Scholarship Program was founded to support students studying enology (winemaking), viticulture (grape growing), wine marketing, and culinary arts at several educational institutions throughout California. The organization currently supports 8 colleges and universities and has donated over $900,000 since the program started. OCWS is the largest wine enthusiast organization of its kind, with over 1,000 members.