What is a wine competition?
And should you care?

For centuries wines have been described by style, variety, and flavors. While no one other than you can ever know exactly how a wine strikes your senses, professional wine judges are trained to discern the subtleties of wines and rank them against the established for that wine.

Example: At a dog show each breed is judged against the standard for that breed, in a wine competition each wine is judged against the standard for that wine variety. The best Great Dane exhibits the best of that breed’s standards for several qualities; a Riesling wine is judged for the best of the qualities expected from that wine grape.

On these pages we provide information about Ohio wines and the medals and awards they win to help you make your choice an Ohio wine. Often these awards are won in regions where judges have little or no experience with the Ohio industry, so you can trust that they are frank evaluations of Ohio wine.

But, in the final analysis, the only score that matters is the one you give to any wine. If you happen to disagree with famous wine writers, or wine publications, it’s their loss not yours. Drink what you love, and love what you drink!