The 38th Washington State Wine Competition will be staged on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 in the heart of Washington wine country.

A look back

Results of the 2020 Washington State Wine Competition

Results of the 2019 Washington State Wine Competition

Results of the 2018 Washington State Wine Competition

Results of the 2017 Washington State Wine Competition

From 1980 through 2015, the judging was operated by the Central Washington State Fair in Yakima. Fair officials discontinued the judging when longtime competition director Ruth Anglin retired. The judging is now operated by Great Northwest Wine, a media company based in Richland, Wash. It is owned by Eric Degerman and Andy Perdue, newspaper veterans who have spent two decades as wine journalists. We judge several international competitions across North America and stage competitions each year throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The Washington State Wine Competition also has a history of serving as a fundraiser for the next generation of Washington winemakers, as proceeds from the judging have funded scholarships at Yakima Valley College’s winemaking program.

Please ship entries to:

Washington State Wine Competition
Great Northwest Wine LLC
8524 W. Gage Blvd., A-244
Kennewick, WA 99336

Entries must arrive no later than Friday, June 25, 2021.

Cost to enter

$60 per entry.

Click here to enter the 2021 Washington State Wine Competition

Competition director

Eric Degerman — eric@GreatNorthwestWine.com, (509) 727-4317

Eligible wines

• Any winery that is physically located in Washington state may enter this competition.
• The wines may come from any AVA within Washington.

Format

• Please submit two (2) bottles of each entry.
• All wines are judged blind by category
  

  Benefits of entering the Washington State Wine Competition

  • Wines are judged by some of the top wine professionals throughout the state, including journalists, winemakers, retailers and educators.
  • Gold medals are announced immediately via email to wineries and on Twitter.
  • Results are posted as soon as the competition concludes.
  • Results are sent to our newspaper partners for inclusion in print and online.
  • Great Northwest Wine’s online audience (25,000 unique visitors per month and more than 3,000 email newsletter subscribers) receives results in a timely manner.
  • We link to medal winners’ website at no additional cost.
  • Top winners appear in our weekly wine column, which is syndicated in 22 Northwest newspapers.
  • Select gold medal winners are featured as a “Wine of the Week” in the Tri-City Herald newspaper and on Wine Press Northwest’s website over the course of several weeks after the competition.
  • Our growing social media network receives alerts about competition medal winners.
  • Gold medal winners are automatically eligible for Wine Press Northwest magazine’s year-end Platinum Judging.
  • Gold medal winners are automatically eligible for consideration in Great Northwest Wine’s Top 100 Wines of the Year list.

2021 judges

• Kristine Bono, general manager/certified sommelier, Tertulia Cellars, Walla Walla, Wash.
• Kent FitzGerald, KWFitzGerald Consulting, Walla Walla, Wash.
• Richard Larsen, research winemaker/enologist emeritus, Washington State University, Richland, Wash.
• Philippe Michel, founder, Oak Tradition, Walla Walla.
• Ken Robertson, columnist, Wine Press Northwest magazine, Kennewick, Wash.
• Gordy Venneri, co-founder/retired, Walla Walla Vintners, Walla Walla, Wash.