What Makes a Winning Bottle?
Every bottle tells a story, but how do you know which wines, ciders and meads truly stand out?
This is one of the reasons wine competitions matter. They celebrate excellence, provide valuable feedback to producers and give you another way to discover exceptional North Carolina beverages with confidence.
This past July, more than 360 wines, ciders and meads from over 50 North Carolina producers were evaluated during the annual North Carolina Wine Competition. Held at the Shelton-Badgett North Carolina Center for Viticulture & Enology in Dobson, the competition brought together multiple panels of highly qualified judges to carefully assess each entry through a blind tasting process.
Behind every pour was an opportunity to recognize the craftsmanship, quality and innovation happening across North Carolina’s wine and craft beverage industry.
Why Hold a Wine Competition?
We’ve all been there. You’re standing in front of a wall of bottles wondering where to begin.
Wine competitions can help make that decision a little easier.
A competition medal can help inspire confidence with your purchase. When a North Carolina wine, cider or mead earns recognition in a competition, it means independent judges evaluated what was in the glass and found something worth celebrating.
But competitions aren’t only about medals.
For producers, they provide an opportunity to see how their products measure up to industry standards and receive valuable feedback from experienced judges. That feedback can help producers refine their craft, experiment with new techniques and continue improving with each vintage or release.
And for North Carolina wine lovers? The results offer a whole new list of bottles and destinations to discover.
How Are Entries Judged?
One of the most important parts of the North Carolina Wine Competition is what the judges don’t know.
Entries are evaluated through a blind judging process, meaning judges do not know which producer made the wine, cider or mead in their glass. Each entry has the opportunity to stand on its own and be evaluated for what’s inside the bottle.
Judges consider characteristics including:
- Appearance
- Aroma
- Flavor
- Balance
- Structure
- Overall quality & typicity
Blind tasting helps ensure that every entry is evaluated on equal footing, whether it comes from a producer you’ve known for years or one you may be discovering for the very first time.
A Taste of North Carolina’s Diversity
One of the most exciting things about North Carolina’s beverage industry is just how much there is to discover.
Across the state, producers craft wines from classic European grape varieties, French-American hybrids and native Muscadine grapes. You’ll also find crisp hard ciders made from apples and distinctive meads crafted from honey, along with creative styles that reflect the ingredients, people and places behind them.
That diversity is on full display at the North Carolina Wine Competition.
Each entry offers a different expression of what’s being grown, crafted and poured across the state. Together, they showcase just how varied a tasting adventure through North Carolina can be.
Winners have been Announced
The wait is over.
The winners of the 2026 North Carolina Wine Competition have been officially announced.
Whether you’re a longtime North Carolina wine enthusiast or just beginning to explore what’s being made here, this year’s medal winners can offer plenty of inspiration for your next bottle, tasting room visit or weekend adventure.
Keep an eye on NC Wine as we celebrate this year’s winners and the people behind the bottles.
Coming This Fall: The NC Wine Winners Pass
Winning a medal is worth celebrating. This fall, we’re giving you a new way to taste the results for yourself.
The NC Wine Winners Pass will be a mobile-exclusive tasting experience featuring participating wineries, cideries and meaderies whose beverages earned top honors at the 2026 North Carolina Wine Competition.
Participating producers will create a unique tasting experience featuring at least one of their medal-winning beverages, giving you the opportunity to discover the wines, ciders and meads that caught the judges’ attention.
Planning a weekend getaway? Exploring somewhere close to home? Looking for your next favorite North Carolina bottle? The Winners Pass will make it easier to turn competition results into your next tasting adventure while supporting producers across the state.
More details are coming this September, so stay tuned. You won’t want to miss your chance to sip your way through some of North Carolina’s award-winning wines, ciders and meads!