Many achievements are being celebrated as part of our organization’s 50th anniversary and the OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition. The Label Competition is no exception. Since the end of the era of requiring actual wine labels with bottle entries, the Label Competition has had to rely almost exclusively on digital labels, or absent them, photos of labels.
Through the efforts of the label committee and cataloging group, this year’s candidates for the semi-final reached a new high with over 500 reviewable labels. The Label Committee narrows the entries and puts them in the appropriate category. If the candidate does not have an actual or digital label a phone call requesting either one is made. The final selections are completed and display boards are prepared and voted on at the Commercial Wine Competition by both the judges and the stewards. One-hundred and eighty-one ballots were cast, another record.
Best of Show came from the Gold medal labels and this year it went to the Best Use of Color Category and to Wiens Family for their 2023 Crowded Red Wine Label. The gold medalists featured several new wineries such as Chateau Caroline, Bienvenue Vineyard, Inman Family and Tiny Vineyards. The standard bearers for Golds also returned such as J. Lohr, Herringer Vyds and Big Nose Winery.
Thanks to the Cataloguing Committee for their help and thanks to the Label Committee for all their time and effort.
Be sure to visit the Label Competition Display for all the winners at The Courtyard during the fair.
—Sam Puzzo and Carol Frank, OCWS Label Competition Co-Chairs