Competitions

SAW organises national national competitions for wine and beer as well as providing judges for other local competitions.

The national wine and beer competitions, called shows, are held 4 times a year in different parts of the country. Each national show is hosted by one of the SAW member circles. The first of these is the National Spring Show held during the month of May and the last one is the National Autumn Show, held in November. In between, in August and September, are the Ayr & Dundee shows which are held within the Ayr and Dundee Flower Shows.

Entries to the National Spring & Autumn shows are only available to members of SAW circles, but the Flower Shows are open to all winemakers.

Through the Guild of Judges, qualified Judges and Stewards are provided for each of the SAW shows, but judges can be provided for any local wine circle or flower show competitions.

Competitors are awarded points based on the result of the judging, 5 points for a first place, 3 for a second and 1 for a third. These points are cumulated over a competition year to determine the National Winemaker of the Year. Other awards are made to the top Country Winemaker, Beermaker and the leading Wine Circle over the year.

There is a comprehensive set of rules that must be adhered to by all competitors in the National Shows.

Download show rules in MS Word or Adobe PDF format.