By Carolyn Christian

This past month was, like most Junes, an incredibly busy month filled with our two flagship events, the OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition and the OC Fair Home Wine Competition.  As hosts of these competitions, we have hundreds of volunteers working thousands and thousands of hours to make them a success. In an era when other wine competitions are seeing a decline in submissions, our competitions continue to grow.

OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition

This year, the Commercial Competition was held on June 1 and 2, and hosted 88 judges from the wine industry who judged 2,518 California wines (an increase of several hundred over last year). I can’t say enough about the committee members and volunteers, led by Fran Gitsham, who make this incredibly complex event go flawlessly. Results from the competition can be found at WineCompetition.com – this site is a great resource for you to search for your favorite varietals and wine regions at the price point you desire.

OC Fair Home Wine Competition

The Home Wine Competition received 521 entries this year. The judging took place on June 8^t and 78 judges enjoyed not only some incredible home wines, but a fantastic breakfast and lunch prepared by our own Cooks’ Caucus. Kevin Donnelly led the Home Wine Competition committee and volunteers in another successful year. Results from this competition can be viewed at hwcr.ocws.org and an article with more details can be found in this issue.

Wine Defect Identification Workshop

While stewarding at the Commercial Competition, OCWS Member Don Mayer came up with an idea to learn more about wine tasting by comparing the bad bottles identified by the judges from the competition with their good bottle counterpart. Nearly 40 OCWS enjoyed the educational experience, and we hope to make it an annual one. A BIG thank you to Don Mayer and his committee, who put on an amazing event. See his article in this issue about the event for more details.

Courtyard at the OC Fair

With the competitions behind us, it is now time to ramp up for the OC Fair. For decades, OCWS has hosted a booth at the annual fair. Our current location, The Courtyard, allows us to serve award-winning wine, wine by the glass, featured wineries, and wine seminars. Fred Heinecke and Fran Gitsham lead the committee that puts together these marvelous events in The Courtyard. More details on The Courtyard activities is available in this month’s newsletter, including information on volunteering to help with the setup. Also check out Jane Goodnight’s article (Part 1) on the history of the OCWS at the OC Fair.

You Can Help!

So now it is your turn!  In addition to volunteering for our events, there are many ways that you can help support the OCWS and its educational mission.

• Check out WineCompetition.com and use the site to help you purchase wines that won medals at our competition. And share the website with your friends and family as a great resource to find award-winning wines. It is a great way to thank wineries for participating!
• Visit wineries that have won medals and congratulate them! You will probably see their OC Fair medals proudly displayed.
• Come to The Courtyard at the OC Fair. Even if you are not signed up to volunteer, coming to The Courtyard for a glass of wine or tasting award-winning wines is a great way to support the organization. Make sure you check out the Featured Wineries on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and the Wine Seminars on Saturdays and Sundays!

We are so fortunate to have over 1,000 members who help us run so many successful wine events. I hope you will join me in thanking all the committee chairs and members and volunteers who make this organization what it is today. Celebrating 48 amazing years of doing what we do makes us a truly unique organization that I am proud to lead. Thank you for all that you do for the organization. I hope to see you in July and August at the OC Fair so we can raise a toast and share more wine experiences together!

Cheers to you all!