I’m very excited to announce that I will be coordinating a new Cider Competition aimed at exposing consumers and the trade to the best craft ciders in the American marketplace.

The new Dan Berger International Wine Competition (DBIWC) will include a Cider Competition within it. Dan Berger is the dean of American wine competitions, having been coordinating them for over 35 years and judging at wine competitions across the globe. Last year I sat down with Dan and showed him 20 different craft ciders from the U.S., Canada and Europe over a nice lunch in Sonoma County. He was shocked at the extraordinary quality and diversity of the ciders.

It didn’t take Dan long to decided to include ciders in his new Dan Berger International Wine Competition that will be held in Sonoma County in May. I was particularly excited when he asked me to coordinate the cider portion of the wine and cider competition.

The most exciting thing about this new Cider Competition and being involved is the Competition’s goal of providing consumers and the trade with a glimpse into the huge number of ciders and variety of ciders now available in the U.S. Marketplace. The growth in cideries and ciders in the U.S. over the past 5 years has been huge and new cideries emerge every month. It is difficult for the trade and consumers to stay on top of the every growing number of products. The goal with the competition is provide insight into which of those products are extolling the craft cider renaissance.

The Cider Competition at the DBIWC will be evaluating ciders in 12 different Categories:

Common Cider (Made primarily with culinary apples)

-Sweet (Above 1.007 FG)

-Dry (Below 1.007 FG)

Traditional Cider (Made primarily with traditional cider apples and heirloom apples)

-Sweet (Above 1.007 FG)

-Dry (Below 1.007 FG)

Single Varietal Cider (must be labeled as a single variety cider)

Spanish Style Cider (Made in the style of Asturian/Basque cider)

Dessert/Ice Cider (Including Pommeau and Apple Brandy)

Fruit Cider: (Cider produced with additional or other fruits and Juices)

Herbed/Hopped Cider (Cider produced with hops, herbs or spices added)

Wood Aged Cider (Cider that is aged in oak or other wood barrels or casks)

Perry (Cider produced from either traditional Perry pears or culinary pears)

Other (Ciders that fall into none of the categories described above)

I WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO INVITE CIDERIES AND IMPORTERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO ENTER THE DBIWC CIDER COMPETITION TODAY. THE PROCESS IS DONE ENTIRELY ONLINE, IS SIMPLE AND QUICK. Submissions will be taken until May 5th.

I’m also very excited about the judges who have committed to evaluate the ciders. They include:

Ben Watson—Author and Cider Expert

Jim Boyce, Cider Buyer, K&L Wine Merchants

Ellen Cavalli, Co-OwnerTilted Shed Ciderworks and Cider Evangelist

Mike Reis, a Certified Cicerone and Operations Manager for Lime Ventures

What all these four individuals have in common are two things: 1) They have all tasted across the broad cider world and 2) they love and are devoted to cider and the trade that has quickly sprouted up around the drink. They are all promoters of cider.

As I mentioned above, I’m excited and honored to be associated with this new cider competition and awards. I will work feverishly to assure they achieve their goal. If anyone has any questions concerning the competition or submissions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.