Our History
What began as a handful of people interested in wine and winemaking in 1976, has now grown into the largest wine society in the United States, with an average of 1,000 members at any given time, and has grown from an initial wine competition in 1976 into the largest wine competition of California wines in the world, As a non-profit partner to the OC Fair and Events Center, the Orange County Wine Society created and has successfully run the competition for almost half a century.
The inaugural competition in 1976 boasted a total of 92 entries, comprised of only two popular varietals at the time – Chenin Blanc and Gamay Beaujolais, with the wines separated and judged in three categories – inexpensive, moderate and premium, and further divided into dry and off dry categories. The original judging was done “blind” and scoring was done using the, then accepted, Davis 20-Point System.
Over almost 50 years, the competition has grown significantly in size and stature. There are now over 150 varietals represented, divided into numerous well-defined varietal categories, and further differentiated by price and sugar levels. Entries annually now average over 2,500 per year and are judged on the internationally recognized 100-point system.
The competition has become known as the premier California only wine competition thanks to the many panels of renowned judges throughout the years. Many of the first judges included such recognizable names as Richard Arrowood, Steve Mirassou, John Parducci, Don Sebastiani, and Rodney Strong, with later notable participants Albert Cribari, Don Galleano, Ray Krause, Jerry Lohr, Phyllis Pedrizzetti, Fred Weibel, and Gary Eberle.
The competition today is judged annually by 90+ professional wine makers and winery principals and continues the high standard of judging with a list of elite judges such as Joseph S. Franzia (30 years), Fred Brander (28 years), Carol Shelton (18 years), Steve Lohr (16 years), Joel Peterson (14 years), and Shauna Rosenblum (10 years), among many others.