Calgary Stampede | Stampede Cellar Showdown International Wine Competition

The Calgary Stampede is excited to announce a brand-new event for 2024 -- the Stampede Cellar Showdown. This international wine competition will highlight beverage production and showcase the best-of-the best in Canadian and international wine, as part of the Stampede’s commitment to agriculture and the Agri-Food industry.

Sharing the Story from Grape to Glass

This high-profile competition is aligned with the Stampede’s Agri-Food Vision, connecting the Agri-Food and Beverage industry to Calgarians and southern Albertans by facilitating signature programs and building understanding of grape to glass between regional food and beverage producers and consumers.

Showcasing the Best-of-the-Best

The Calgary Stampede Cellar Showdown is open to all products from Canadian and International wine producers and distributors that are registered within the Province of Alberta. The competition portion will take place prior to Stampede– with the winning wines earning a spot to be showcased at the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth as one of the greatest wines on earth. Stampede guests will get to enjoy swirling, sniffing and sipping these award winner wines as part of their festival experience. For winning wineries and distributors, recognition will also include the opportunity to feature their award-winning wines at retail outlets and restaurants with the Stampede Cellar Champion labelling.

In the Stampede’s commitment to highlighting regional producers, the Canadian Wine industry will be showcased in the competition with its own class of recognition and prizing.

For more details about the competition and more specifics, please see the tabs below.

For more information on the Stampede Cellar Showdown, email wine@calgarystampede.com or click the link below.

Event Details

Competition Process & Overview

BLIND TASTING

Guaranteeing impartial evaluation

Over the course of a rigorous three-day process, our expert judging panels will engage in meticulously controlled blind tastings to evaluate every wine and determine its eligibility for a medal. To ensure a fair, unbiased assessment, the judges are provided with no information regarding the producer of each wine. This guarantees that each wine is evaluated on its own merits, with equality and impartiality at the forefront of the judging process.

PHASE 1: THE MEDAL ROUND

Assessing individual quality

During the tasting process, judges assess each wine individually, without making direct comparisons to other entries within the flight. In this phase, judges determine the wines deserving of a gold, silver, or bronze medal based on their individual merits.

PHASE 2: THE SEMI-FINALS

Determining category winners

The wines progressing to the semi-finals will be divided into their respective groups and evaluated equally, regardless of wine variety. Judges will sample all wines within their designated group and individually rank their top fifteen overall selections through a confidential voting process. The fifteen highest-ranked wines from each group will proceed to the Super Panel for further evaluation.

PHASE 3: THE SUPER PANEL

Declaring the champions

The judges in the Super Panel will convene to evaluate all advancing wines and determine six Top Awards. To ensure fairness, judges on the Super Panel will receive all the wines simultaneously, irrespective of variety. Judges will sample all the wines and rank their top ten overall selections through a secret ballot, identifying the Grand Champion & Reserve Grand Champion. Additionally, judges will independently score their votes for the Top Red Wine, Top White Wine, Top Dessert Wine, and Top Sparkling Wine.

Judges

The competition judges will be drawn from the supplier, wholesale, retail, and restaurant branches of the wine trade on both the local, national, and international levels. Judges are selected based on their credentials, as well as their overall knowledge and reputation within the local and national wine community, at the discretion of the International Wine Competition management. Superintendents and umpires will also be appointed to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the competition.