American Airlines Judges' Choice Award Winners

In blind tasting (the judges do not know the maker of the wine) in the Woman Winemakers' Challenge, the American Airlines 2008 Judges' Choice Award was given to Diane Wilson of Wilson Winery, Healdsburg, CA. Her Diane's Reserve Zinfandel, 2005 Dry Creek Valley prevailed over more than 300 women-made wines from around the world to win the competition's "best of show" prize with her. To win Judges' Choice, Diane's wine had to win Best of Class and Sweepstakes Red in the Challenge.

In the Open Competition, Scott Ratcliff's Volcano Vineyards' 2005 Lakeside Syrah from Oregon's Rogue Valley won the top honor, sucessfully competing against over 1600 US and International wines for the "best of show" prize. To win Judges' Choice, Scott's wine had to winBest of Class and Sweepstakes Red in the Open Competition.

Our competition answered the question...

Women LOVE 1,038 Wines!

Competition Factoids: 

36 Superstar Judges from the Wine Industry (see Judges' page for bios) judged over 1900 wines from 30 states and 10 foreign countries including Argentina, Australia, German, Italy, Chile, South Africa, Spain, France, New Zealand and Canada.

Open Competition - 1600+ entries 

1 American Airlines Judges' Choice Award

4 Sweepstakes Winners (Red, White, Sparkling, Dessert)

9 Double Gold

14 Double Gold Best of Class

76 Gold

18 Gold Best of Class

1 Gold to Sweeps (Advanced to Sweeps at Judge's discretion)

331 Silver

436 Bronze

Women Winemakers' Challenge Competition - 300+ entries1 Judges' Choice Sweepstakes Winner

2 Sweepstakes Winners (Red and White wines)

4 Double Gold Best of Class

8 Gold

1 Gold Best of Class

57 Silver

75 Bronze

Interesting Bits: Two American red wines won top honors, the American Airlines Judges' Choice Awards ("best in show").

The nation of Chile won the most awards for a foreign nation -- a total of 44; 8 gold, 12 silver, 24 bronze.

Three of the seven wines in the Women's Sweeps were international wines.

In the Women Winemakers' Challenge, Two Sweepstakes winners were declared:

The White Wine Sweeps was won by the 2005 Bianca, a Spanish Verdejo imported by DeGarcia & Associates.

Wilson Winery's Diane's Reserve won Sweepstakes Red and went on to win Judges' Choice.

In the Open Competition, Four Sweepstakes Winners were declared:

Volcano Vineyards 2005 Syrah, Sweepstakes Red (And went on to win Judges' Choice)

Chateau St. Michelle 2006 Ethos, Sweepstakes Dessert (Late Harvest, non-fortified)

Gloria Ferrer, 2004 Blanc de Blancs, Sweepstakes Sparkling

Spy Valley Wines (New Zealand, Marlborough), 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Sweepstakes White

The National Women's Wine Competition is the first and only U.S. based wine competition judged solely by superstar women of the wine industry. The competition took the wine world by storm in 2007 when nearly 1,900 entries flooded the competition – so many we had to turn eager wineries away!

Find out by entering! International and U.S. wines invited to enter both the Open Competition and Women Winemaker’s Challenge.

About Our Judges

Hands down, NWWC attracts the "rock star palates" of women in the wine industry. Our distinguished judges, under the direction of Head Judge Rebecca Murphy (founder and director of the Dallas Morning News Wine Competition) are tough and, above all, fair.

NWWC stresses integrity and creating an atmosphere where the "judges can judge." Our job is to attract the best judges, give them the environment they need to fairly evaluate your wines without interference, and let the winners emerge victorious!

2008 Judges Include: loading...