By Bob Fraser, SFCWC Executive Director
All colleges within North America are invited to participate in the New San Francisco Wine Competition North America Wine Bowl in conjunction with the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition in 2026. All collegiate wines branded by the college are eligible to enter the competition. The colleges’ winning wine entries from the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, judged by over 45 outstanding professional judges, will be awarded points from the medal awards to be counted toward the North America Collegiate Wine Bowl. There will be no additional fees to the colleges for this new competition.
There will be a North America Collegiate Wine Bowl Overall Winner and a top ten of collegiate wine programs on the final listing. Collegiate Wineries entering the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition can opt out of this new additional program. Winning wine entries will gather the following points for the wine bowl: Sweepstake and BOC 10 points, Double Gold 9 Points, Gold 8 Points, Silver 7 Points, Bronze 6 points. No minimum or maximum wine entries are required for the wine bowl.
The listing of the North America Collegiate Wine Bowl winners will be on winejudging.com and in the 2026 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Awards Section in March, and social media/press releases. Mike Dunne, nationally acclaimed professional judge, wine writer and author will taste selected top awards and write an article that will accompany the wine awards publicity.
One of the major mission points of the San Francisco Chronicle in its inception over 25 years ago was to recognize award winning professional bonded wineries and to support wine education college programs. The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition has supported these many collegiate programs with wine donations to these programs to support the educational endeavor of these outstanding institutions. We hope this new North America Collegiate Wine Bowl will foster continued support of these wine education institutions and recognize their outstanding wine products.
For further information, contact Marketing Director Alexandra Alvernaz at alexandra.sfcwc@gmail.com.
