Thursday, June 16, 2022 (5:30 pm)

Learn all about OC Fair’s Commercial Wine Competition

The OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition is the largest California-only wine competition and is in its 46th year. Only the best winemakers and winery principles were invited to be a part of the 17 panels of up to five judges who blindly tasted 2,516 wines June 4-5.

Fran Gitsham, the president of Orange County Wine Society and host of the event, was in charge of this massive production powered by 300 volunteers. “The flow” is how Gitsham referred to the system of how the wines were judged.

First, the bar-coded wines were poured in sequence by stewards, who delivered them carefully to each table. Once a judging table completed their tasting, they waved a green “pick up glasses” sign, signaling the stewards to retrieve the glasses and walk them to a side room to be cleaned for the next wines. At the same time, their judging forms were picked up and taken to the data validation and entry room. The data was then verified using computerized lists, and by the end of the day they had complete reports of the day’s judging. This was repeated until all wines had been judged.

Results for the 2022 Commercial Wine Competition are now available at winecompetition.com/results/2022. Plus, the wines will be available to purchase by the glass at the annual OC Fair in the Courtyard.