In other competitions, this factor is ignored. At the Harvest Challenge, judges taste wines with other wines of the same appellation. Thus, with cross-regional competition removed, the inherent quality of wines can be seen without the influences that sometimes eclipse even a wine of very high quality.

Beyond the determination of medals, the Harvest Challenge affords its winners a unique selling proposition - its region ranked against its competitors. Harvest Challenge recognizes wine entries that best exemplify the soil and climate of their respective viticultural areas, and acknowledges its influence on wine quality. A medal in this wine competition not only gives your wine prestige and selling power, it adds talking points in your retail room. Favorable awards support increased local and regional sales. A win in the Harvest Challenge can put your wine into a whole new sales category.

A goal of Harvest Challenge is to learn how soil and climate contribute to the excellence and distinctiveness of wines. Over the course of this event, judges have learned to recognize when a wine's region is - and is not - a factor of wine quality. We think the bar has been lifted a little, and as a result, each year we perceive greater interest by winemakers and critics alike. Favorable awards support increased local and regional sales. A win in the Harvest Challenge can put your wine into a whole new sales category.  All wines are judged in the context of their viticultural region in order to accomplish two things: greater sensitivity to the complexities and nuances of regional wines and also to measure the influence of regional soil and weather characteristics on the taste and quality of individual wines.