Presentation of Entries

Although the appearance of the wine will be judged in the glass rather than in the bottle, the Competitor should bear in mind that the Judges will see the bottles and may be prejudiced by sloppy presentation. The Table Stewards will handle the bottles as carefully as possible, but a deposit that is not firm could be stirred up, cloud the wine, and detract from its appearance in the glass, thus losing points.

1. It is strongly recommended that every bottle be opened and tasted, then topped up before being entered. Without that precaution corked, oxidized, or otherwise faulty or flawed bottles may end up on the judging table.

2. Red and white table wines are to be in 750 ml. bottles. Entries in other classes may be in 375ml. bottles. No potentially identifying feature may be used including capsules or winery-branded corks or caps.

3. Sparkling wines may be entered only in the Sparkling Class, and must be presented in thick-walled sparkling wine glass bottles for safety. They must not contain sediment.

4. Beers and Ciders are to be presented in glass or plastic beer bottles of approximately 350ml capacity with appropriate closures.

5. The only identification on the entry must be an appropriate Bottle Tag.  Attach it to the bottle neck with an elastic band through a hole in the tag so it will not come off accidentally, but so that it may be easily removed.

  Bottle tag

The sample bottle tag above indicates the recommended format of the tag and the information that is required.  The tag should include Class ID, Class name, designation of "Entry 1” or "Entry 2" (so that after the competition the Competitor can match the Judges' Comments to each wine entry), the Competitor's name and the Club name.

Competitors entering Class J. Country Wine, should include on their Bottle Tags the style of the wine (table, dessert, aperitif, etc.) even though such information may have been included on the Entry Form.  Tags may be reinforced with light cardboard such as file folders or luggage tags. 

A printable Bottle Tag template has been posted as part of the Provincial Competition Competitor’s Package on the BCAWA website.

Beer entry tags should include the Subclass Name and Subclass ID.

6. The Wine and/or Beer entries must be accompanied by a completed entry form and the fee of $5.00 per entry.  Cheques are to be made payable to Nanaimo Winemakers.