1. Definitions
“award” means a gold medal, a silver medal, a bronze medal, or a trophy
“Class” means an exhibition class defined by the Committee from time to time, and for the time
being specified at Schedule A to these Rules
“Committee” means the Committee of the Society
“entry” means a wine listed and described on an Entry Form submitted by an exhibitor, and for
which the appropriate entry fee has been received by the Society
“Entry Form” means the official Entry Form at Schedule B to these Rules
“exhibit” means a wine received from an exhibitor by the Society to be judged at the Show
“exhibitor” means the bona fide owner of an exhibit, and may be a natural person, a partnership or an
incorporated body
“Show” or “TWS” means the Tasmanian Wine Show conducted annually by the Society
“Society” or “TWSS” means the Tasmanian Wine Show Society
“trophy” means a special award made in accordance with Schedule C
2. General rules – all Classes
2.1 Subject to specific exceptions for sparkling wines under rule 4.1, entry in all Classes is open to wines
made from 100% Tasmanian grapes.
2.2 Submission of entries in varietal classes shall be open to wines made from not less than 85% of the
specified grape variety.
2.3 An entry in any Class must be a finished, bottled wine.
3. General Rules – Classes 1-22
3.1 Wines entered in any Class must:
(a) be available for wholesale and/or retail trade at the time of entry or
(b) be scheduled for release to wholesale and/or retail trade before the end of the calendar
year following the year in which the Show is held (i.e. 31 December 2017 in the case of the
Show held in January 2016).
3.2 Subject to any special provision in Schedule C – Trophies, each entry must comprise a minimum
quantity of 225 litres at the time of entry.
3.3 An exhibitor must provide as exhibits four (4) bottles of each wine entered in classes 1-22.
3.4 If a wine has not yet been labelled, then the exhibitor must affix to each bottle of a wine entered in
a Class a label that clearly states:
• The name of the exhibitor
• The commercial brand and any other relevant distinctive description of the wine
• The variety or varieties from which the wine is made
• The vintage year
• The percentage by volume of alcohol in the wine
• If requested, the residual sugar contained in the wine, expressed as grams per litre
3.5 The Society reserves the right to inspect stocks and records at the premises of an exhibitor, to
verify that minimum quantity requirements and other requirements relating to the identity and
composition of exhibits have been met.
4. Rules for Particular Classes
4.1 Classes 1, 2 and 3
Entry of sparkling wines in Classes 1, 2 and 3 is open to wines made from not less than 85%
Tasmanian grapes.
A “vintage sparkling wine” is a wine made from not less than 85% Tasmanian grapes of a single
vintage.
4.2 Class 19
A wine exhibited in Class 19 may be 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, or may be a blend of Cabernet
Sauvignon and another grape variety or other grape varieties, e.g. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit
Verdot.
5. Museum wines
5.1 An entry in the Museum Class must be of an age appropriate to its type, as set out below:
23a Sparkling wines 10 year old wines and older
23b White wines 6 year old wines and older
23c Red wines 7 year old wines and older
5.2 There is no minimum quantity requirement at the time of entry, but each entry must have been
comprised of a minimum quantity of 225 litres at the time of making.
5.3 Despite rule 5.1, if a wine continues to be commercially available, or its commercial release is
pending (e.g. a late-disgorged vintage sparkling wine), it must be entered in the appropriate Class 1-22.
5.4 An exhibitor must provide as exhibits two (2) bottles of each wine entered in the Museum Class 23
6. Submission of entries
6.1 The Society will call for the submission of entries in the next year’s Show in November each year,
advising potential exhibitors of:
• The dates for the Show
• The venue for the Show
• The Classes of wines to be judged at the Show
• Means by which entries may be lodged
• Entry fees in each Class
• Acceptable forms of payment
• The closing date for receipt of Entry Forms and payment
• The closing date for receipt of exhibits at the venue for the Show
6.2 Submission of entries will be made on the official ONLINE Entry Form.
6.3 Each Online Entry Form shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee, using PayPal.
6.4 A wine entered by an exhibitor must be the bona fide property of the exhibitor.
6.5 An exhibitor may enter more than one wine in any Class.
6.6 An exhibitor may not enter a particular wine in more than one Class.
6.7 An exhibitor may not enter a particular wine more than once in any Class.
6.8 Upon submission of an entry, the exhibitor agrees to be bound by these Rules and any conditions
specified by the Committee for participation in the Show.
7. Exhibits
7.1 Upon receipt, all exhibits become the property of the Society.
7.2 Except with the express permission of the President of the Society in special
circumstances, an exhibitor is required to ensure that the exhibits relating to
each entry in the Show are delivered to the venue for the Show no later
than the date fixed by the Committee under Rule 6.1.
7.3 In the case that an exhibitor wishes to withdraw a wine from the Show,
the exhibitor must inform the Chief Steward no later than five working days before the first day of judging.
7.4 In the event that a wine has been entered, but the exhibit has not been received before
the first day of judging, the wine will be deemed to be withdrawn.
7.5 In the case that an exhibitor wishes to substitute a different wine for a wine
entered on the official Entry Form, the exhibitor must inform the Chief Steward
no later than five days before the first day of judging. The replacement exhibit
must be received from the exhibitor before the first day of judging.
7.6 In the event that an exhibit received from an exhibitor does not correspond with a
wine entered on the official Entry Form, the exhibit will be allocated to the
Class most appropriate to the exhibit actually received, and judged in that Class.
In the event that there is no suitable Class for the exhibit actually received,
the wine will be deemed to be withdrawn.
7.7 Judges are not required to decide what is the appropriate Class under which an exhibit shall be
considered.
8. Judging and awards
8.1 Exhibits will be scored out of 100 points, as agreed by the three judges.
8.2 Awards will be determined from that score:
Bronze 85 to 89 points
Silver 90 to 94 points
Gold 95 to 100 points
8.3 No exhibitor shall advertise or allow to be advertised by any means whatsoever, whether by
broadcasting, pictorially, or in writing, the fact that any exhibit has won any medal, trophy or other
award at the Tasmanian Wine Show, unless such advertisement displays clearly:
• The words “Tasmanian Wine Show” and the name of the wine as entered
• The year of the Show at which the award was won
• The Class in which the award was won, and a description of the Class in which the award
was won [e.g. “Class 12 Chardonnay – 2016 Vintage”], and for trophies the name of the sponsor
Any exhibitor not complying with this Rule may be disqualified from the current Show or
future Shows, at the Committee’s discretion.
8.4 Exhibitors are required to donate an additional two bottles of each gold medal winning wine for
use at public TWS Tastings in Launceston and Hobart.
1 General Provisions
1.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning wines in each exhibition class are eligible
to be considered for trophies.
1.2 The Society reserves the right to not award a trophy in the event that no wines in
the class or classes to which the trophy relates have been awarded gold medals.
1.3 In cases where this Schedule stipulates that wines in two or more exhibition
classes are eligible for consideration for a particular trophy, but a gold medal or
gold medals have only been awarded in one of those classes, then the highest
scoring gold medal winning wine in that class will be awarded the trophy.
1.4 In these cases, it will not be necessary for the judging panel to be involved in the
selection of a wine to be awarded the trophy.
1.5 The Society has adopted the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology’s
recommendations on Judge Impartiality and Trophy Judging Protocols. The
Chairman of Judges will direct the judging panel in their consideration of wines
eligible to be awarded a trophy within this framework.
1.6 The Chairman of Judges will have the final arbitration power in relation to trophies
awarded on the basis of their selection by the judging panel.
1.7 Subject to paragraph 16.2, in the case of trophies awarded on the basis of other
criteria, the President of the Society will determine whether the criteria for
awarding a particular trophy have been met.
1.8 No protest will be entered unless made in writing within seven days of the
announcement of the awards. The only grounds for protest are that a trophy was
not awarded in accordance with these rules.
1.9 Exhibitors are required to donate to the Society an additional 12 bottles of each
trophy medal winning wine in Classes 1 – 27. Trophy winning wines in Classes 1-27
will be served at the Trophy Presentation Dinner where the donation will be
acknowledged.
2 Champion Wine of Show
2.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning wines in Classes 1-22 inclusive are eligible
for consideration for this trophy.
2.2 This trophy will be awarded to the wine selected by the judging panel.
3 Reserve Champion Wine of Show
3.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning wines in Classes 1-22 inclusive are eligible
for consideration for this trophy.
3.2 In the event that the Champion Wine of Show is a white table wine or sparkling
wine, the Reserve Champion Wine of Show will be the highest rated red table wine
selected by the judging panel.
3.3 In the event that the Champion Wine of Show is a red table wine, the Reserve
Champion Wine of Show will be the highest rated white table wine or sparkling
wine selected by the judging panel.
4 Best Late-Disgorged Mature Vintage Sparkling Wine
4.1 This trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring gold medal winning wine in
Class 1.
5 Best Vintage Sparkling Wine
5.1 This trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring gold medal winning wine in
Class 2.
6 Best Non-Vintage Sparkling Wine
6.1 This trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring gold medal winning wine in
Class 3.
7 Best Riesling
7.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning wines in Classes 4, 5 and 6 are eligible for
consideration for this trophy.
7.2 This trophy will be awarded to the wine selected by the judging panel.
8 Best Chardonnay
8.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning wines in Classes 9, 10 and 11 are
eligible for consideration for this trophy.
8.2 This trophy will be awarded to the wine selected by the judging panel.
9 Best Pinot Noir
9.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning wines in Classes 15, 16, 17 and 18 are
eligible for consideration for this trophy.
9.2 This trophy will be awarded to the wine selected by the judging panel.
10 Best 3 Year Old Pinot Noir
10.1 To be eligible for this trophy, an entry must meet the following criteria:
• it must be entered in Class 17,
• at the closing date for entries, there must have been not less than 450 litres
of the wine in bottles bearing the wine’s normal commercial label, and
• at the closing date for entries, the wine must have been commercially
available for wholesale and/or retail trade.
10.2 Exhibitors entering wines in Class 17 must indicate at the time of submitting
entries to the Show whether they hold sufficient stocks of wine and meet all the
other conditions to be eligible for this trophy.
10.3 This trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring gold medal winning wine in
Class 20 that meets these criteria.
11 Best Sweet White
11.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning wines in Class 13 are eligible for
consideration for this trophy.
11.2 This trophy will be awarded to the wine selected by the judging panel.
12 Best Other Wine
12.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning wines in Classes 12, 14, 19, 21,
and 22 are eligible for consideration for this trophy.
12.2 This trophy will be awarded to the wine selected by the judging panel.
13 Best 2023 Vintage Wine/Best One-Year-Old Wine
13.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning 2023 vintage wines in Classes 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, and 22 are eligible for consideration for this trophy.
13.2 This trophy will be awarded to the wine selected by the judging panel.
14 Most Successful Exhibitor
14.1 The trophy for the Most Successful Exhibitor will be awarded to the exhibitor
achieving the highest score for medals awarded to wines entered in Classes 1-22:
Bronze 1 point
Silver 3 points
Gold 5 points
15 Pinot Noir Exhibitor of the Year
15.1 An exhibitor who has entered at least three wines in separate classes of Classes 15, 16, 17 and 18 and
who has won a medal in each of three classes is eligible for
consideration for this trophy.
15.2 The trophy will be awarded on the basis of medal tally, with priority given
to gold(s) over silver(s) and silver(s) over bronze(s), and the total
aggregate point score in respect of the exhibitor's best performing three
wines from three different vintage classes.
16 Best Museum Wine
16.1 Only wines entered in Class 23 will be considered for this trophy.
16.2 This trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring gold medal winning wine in
Class 28.
16.3 Wines given an award in class 23 will not be considered for any other trophy.
17 Chairman’s Selection
17.1 Wines awarded gold medals in Classes 1-22 inclusive are eligible for consideration
for this trophy.
17.2 This trophy is awarded by the Chairman of Judges at his or her absolute discretion.
18 Best Shiraz
18.1 This trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring gold medal winning wine in
Class 20.
19 Export Wine of Show
19.1 Gold medal winning wines from Classes 1 to 22 that are currently exported, or destined for export,
are eligible for this award; to be selected by the nominated Judge.
20 Best Pinot Gris / Grigio
20.1 This trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring gold medal winning wine in class 7.
21 Best Sauvignon Blanc
21.1 The highest scoring gold medal winning wines in Class 8 are eligible
for consideration for this trophy.
21.2 This trophy will be awarded to the wine selected by the judging panel.
22 Best Rosé
22.1 This trophy will be awarded to the highest scoring gold medal winning wine in
Class 14.
23 New and Special Trophies
22.1 The Society reserves the right to add any new and/or special trophies at any Show
without notice.