BELLVILLE — The Aus- tin County Fair (ACF) offers a competition not found at any other county fair in the state of Texas. On behalf of the ACF, The Gulf Coast Winegrowers Association is proud to present the only Non-Commercial Wine Show presented by a county fair in Texas that is open to wine entries made anywhere in Texas by all non-commercial winemakers living in Texas. That's big. That's bold. That's Austin County and the Austin County Fair.
As Texas' wine industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds, Austin County and the ACF play undeniably important roles with each holding distinct and unique niches in that growth. Based on the most recent Texas A&M AgriLife survey, No. 4 on the list of the most acres of grape varieties planted in Texas is Blanc Du Bois (making it also the number one white wine grape grown in the state). Broken down by county, Austin County has the distinction of having the highest number of acres of Blanc Du Bois planted. In fact, nine adjacent and area counties account for the bulk of this grape under cultivation making Austin County ground zero in the state's production. The Austin County Fairs' niche is the State-wide non-commercial wine competition held since 2008.
Now in its 15th year, the ACF Wine Show "Wines Down" the county fair on Sunday, Oct. 15 in the American Legion Hall on the fairgrounds in Belleville. It offers Texas' home and non-commercial winemakers an opportunity to share the results of their efforts and have them judged by highly qualified industry representatives to help them improve their craft and possibly earn Texas bragging rights in the process.
This philosophy aligns perfectly with the mission of the Gulf Coast Winegrowers Association which, along with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension-Aus - tin County and the Austin County Fair are guided by that principle in presenting this competition. To that end, the judging process offers features not commonly found in non-commercial wine competitions.
An esteemed panel of judges who, in blind tastings, score en - tries in eight classes, awarding medals and championship belt buckles. That is somewhat typical for most wine competitions. What the ACF Show does next is out of the ordinary. The show proudly publishes the names and "credentials" of the judges.
To protect the integrity of the blind judging process, they are assigned unique IDs that are used on their scorecards. The judges are encouraged, at their discretion, to add constructive comments to the scorecards to help the entrant identify areas for improvement, etc.
Upon request, each entrant may request they receive copies of their individual scorecards with judges' comments after the competition.
The judges for 2023 ACF Wine Show are: Jeff Cope- founder, Texas Wine Lover Blog, named one of the top wine blogs in the world; Dr. Andrea Boteza - tu- Texas A&M Assistant Professor and AgriLife Extension Enology Specialist; Dr. Justin Scheiner- Texas A&M Assistant Professor and AgriLife Extension Viticulture Specialist; Mike Gamble- owner and award-winning winemaker, Blue Mule Winery, Fayetteville; Maureen Qualia- Sr. Lecturer of Enology, Texas Tech University at Fredericksburg; Josh Jeter-award winning winemaker, Threshold Vineyards & Winery, Navasota; Fran Pontasch- Gulf Coast Viticulture Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension; Jennifer Kohleffel-seven years as Tasting Room Manager, Whistling Duck Winery, Weimar; Ross Asher- president, Texas Wine Society - Houston Chapter; Dawn Asher- Texas Wine Society Houston Chapter member.
