Commissioners Cup

The 2022 Kentucky Commonwealth Commercial Wine Competition & Commissioner’s Cup will take place in November.

Kentucky Commonwealth Commercial Wine Competition

With a goal of public awareness and education through promotion and recognition, the Kentucky Commonwealth Commercial Wine Competition & Commissioner’s Cup is the quintessential yearly guide to the best wines produced throughout the state. Eligible only to licensed Kentucky Small Farm Wineries, the KCCWC&CC assembles panels of expert judges comprised of industry leaders to systematically assess and score entries.

Judging

Judging of each individual wine is based on personal merit and is not judged comparatively against other wines placed in the same flight. Judging is based on clarity, varietal typicity, integration, expressiveness, complexity and connectedness.
All wines are judged blind. Each wine is only identified to judges by a computer generated number placed on the base of the tasting glass. Judges are provided with scoring sheets that contain the generated number of the wine and the varietal/blend (i.e. 421- Cabernet Sauvignon) and residual sugar.
All flights are staged in a separate room and delivered to the judge’s room.

Commissioner’s Cup

Sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the Commissioner’s Cup is the highest recognition awarded in the Commonwealth to the top Kentucky wine of the year in each of the following categories: Dry Red Wine (max 0.2% RS), Dry White Wine (max 0.2% RS), Rose/Blush, Sweet/Dessert Style/Fruit Wine and Boutique (Small Production) Wine.

In order to be eligible for the Commissioner’s Cup, a wine must be awarded a gold medal in the Kentucky Commonwealth Commercial Wine Competition and must be produced from a minimum of 75% Kentucky fruit. Additionally, we request that a minimum of 100 cases be available for sale to the general public for Dry Red Wine, Dry White Wine Rose/Blush and Sweet/Dessert Style/Fruit Wine categories. Any gold medal winning wine under the 100 case minimum will be eligible for entry in the Commissioner’s Cup under the Boutique (Small Production) Wine category.

Every Commissioner Cup qualifying wine is tasted and individually scored. Scores are tallied and the highest scoring wine in each class is awarded as a Commissioner’s Cup Winning Wine.

The Kentucky Commonwealth Commercial Wine Competition & Commissioner’s Cup is funded through the generosity of the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund. The fund is a product of the 1998 Master Tobacco Settlement between cigarette manufacturers and 46 states, including Kentucky. The fund is directed by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board and administered by the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy.

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Home to the first commercial vineyard in the United States and once producer of more than half the nation’s grape and wine output, Kentucky is now reclaiming its proud heritage and rebuilding a wine industry ready to take its place among the world’s best.

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