May 2, 2025 (Orange County, CA) — Orange County Wine Society (OCWS), in partnership with the OC Fair, announces they are accepting entries for the 2025 OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition. The deadline to enter is May 16, 2025.
California wineries still have an opportunity to enter their wines into this prestigious, double-blind competition, judged by winemakers and commercial winery owners, which is now in its 49th year. The competition also has no entry fee, making it accessible to all California wineries, large and small. Orange County is one of the largest wine markets in the nation and this competition can provide an incredibly cost-effective and powerful marketing opportunity. More information on the competition and rules for entry is available at OCWineCompetition.com.
While other competitions have seen dramatic decreases, our competition remains at pre-COVID levels and is on track to surpass last year’s competition, where we received 2,518 entries from hundreds of wineries. Wines are divided into varietal categories and then judged by price range and sugar level. In addition to awarding Bronze, Silver, Gold and Double Gold Medals, the competition awards the Best of Class awards to the top 20 wines, representing low, medium, high and premium price points for White, Rose, Red, Sparkling and Dessert wines.
The public can view the results from the OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition at WineCompetition.com, a searchable website that allows consumers to search for award-winning wines based on several search categories including varietals, award, price level, winery name and more. Wine entries from the OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition can also be enjoyed by the public during the OC Fair at the Wine Courtyard, which is also hosted by OCWS. This year’s fair theme is “Find Your Happy.” The fair runs from July 18 through August 17, Wednesday through Sunday.
In addition to the Commercial Wine Competition, OCWS hosts the OC Fair Home Wine Competition, which is one of the largest competitions for amateur winemakers in California. The deadline to enter the Home Wine Competition is May 23, 2025. More information is available at HomeWineCompetition.com.
OCWS (a 501(c)3 corporation) has been hosting the OC Fair Commercial and Home Wine competitions for over four decades. OCWS boasts over 1,000 wine enthusiast members who volunteer their time to present the largest competition of California-only wines in the world. In addition to running the OC Fair Commercial and Home Wine competitions, the OCWS has donated over $940,000 in scholarships to eight California institutions with wine-related educational programs.
