Partner submission guidance for participating producers and importers.
Thank you for considering a submission to the Judgment of Davis. We’re deeply grateful to the producers and importers who are contributing time, coordination, and donating wine to make this educational, research-driven tasting possible.
The Judgment of Davis differs from most other wine competitions in that it elicits responses from a large panel of tasters. Wines will be judged by a panel of top industry professionals invited by UC Davis, in two rounds. Each wine submitted will be tasted by at least 15 invited expert judges, and each wine advancing to the final round will be tasted by a total of about 30 judges, 30 other invited wine professionals, and 30 members of the general public.
The process works as follows:
1. Round 1 Submissions (March 15–April 15, 2026): Wineries wishing to submit white wines (100% Chardonnay) or red wines (at least 50% Cabernet Sauvignon) must complete the registration form and submission portal, print the provided shipping label, and send two sample bottles of each wine to UC Davis. No fee is required. Wines must be received at UC Davis by April 15, 2026. Note: We will close registration at 200 red and white wines. In the case of unusual shipping challenges or delays that may prevent you from meeting the deadline, please contact melissa_knell@harvard.edu.
2. Judgment of Davis Round 1 (April 25–26, 2026): The wines we receive will be blind-tasted and rated on a 100-point scale by an invited panel of about 15 expert judges at the UC Davis Teaching and Research Winery. The top-scoring 4 reds and 4 whites from California, and 6 reds and 6 whites from the rest of the world, will advance to the final round of the Judgment of Davis.
3. Finals Submissions: Winners of Round 1 will be notified by April 30, 2026, and will be asked to submit an additional case of 12 samples to be received by May 11, 2026 for the final round. 12 bottles is more than is needed for most competitions, but our use of a larger panel of tasters (compared with ordinary wine competitions), and comparing results between experts and non-experts, are aspects of the project’s research‑oriented experimental design, increasing statistical power and enabling meaningful comparison across wines.
4. Judgment of Davis Finals (May 18, 2026): The 20 finalists will be blind-tasted by a second panel of about 15 expert judges, about 20 other wine professionals, and about 35 members of the general public, including ticketed and invited guests. Winners are asked to donate a case of 12 wines to power this final round of the experiment and competition. At the conclusion of each tasting, the names of the 10 wines will be revealed, results and rankings will be announced. All 20 finalists will all be honored at the Vine to Mind VIP speaker’s dinner.
To register your submission: Continue to the Judgment of Davis wine submission portal.
Inquiries about submitting wines, or other questions or concerns: Please contact Lissi Knell, Harvard Data Science Initiative.
Detailed Submission FAQ
Thanks again for considering participating in our experiment by submitting your wines. The FAQs below are meant to make your participation straightforward and transparent.
Q: Who is overseeing the Judgment of Davis?
A: The Judgment of Davis Committee, is a group of academic collaborators from the Harvard Data Science Initiative and the Departments of Viticulture and Enology and Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis. The five-member committee planned and organized the event, determined the methodology, invited the judges, and will supervise operations. Committee members from Harvard are Xiao-Li Meng and Jen Cortellini, and committee members from UC Davis are Ben Montpetit, Robin Goldstein, and Julian Alston.
Q: Who are the expert judges?
A: The judging panel will include leading wine professionals from around the United States and beyond, including Karen MacNeil (The Wine Bible), Joe Czerwinski (Wine Advocate), and Clive Pursehouse (Decanter), and sommelier André Mack. The panel represents a wide range of industry perspectives (critics/writers, academic wine scholars, Masters of Wine, sommeliers, and other experts).
Q: Which wines are accepted, and who can submit them?
A: We welcome submissions of still white wines (750ml) made from 100% Chardonnay, or still red wines (750ml) made from at least 51% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines can be from any region in the world and should be currently available to consumers (i.e., the latest vintage currently being sold into the retail marketplace).
Q: What is the deadline for submitting wines for initial judging, how do I submit them, and how many bottles do I send?
A: To submit, please begin by completing the registration form (wine details + your contact information). Once submitted, you’ll receive an email with shipping instructions and a printable shipping label. For Round 1, please ship two (2) bottles of each wine to UC Davis, to be received by April 15, 2026. If shipping is delayed or any logistics issues come up, please contact Lissi Knell (melissa_knell@harvard.edu) with details — we’ll do our best to work with you and make reasonable accommodations case-by-case.
Q: What about wines that are not currently being imported to the US?
A: We appreciate the interest from international producers and will consider entries even if they do not currently have US COLA approval — however, we’re not able to provide support for international shipments. Producers would need to coordinate with importers to provide or ship bottles to UC Davis. If shipping directly from outside the US, we suggest pre‑shipping one full case (12 bottles) to UC Davis to be received by April 15, 2026, so that sufficient quantity is already on hand if the wine advances to the finals. If the wine does not advance, the remaining bottles will be donated to the Vine to Mind Symposium for conference use, and — if you wish — you can receive acknowledgment for your donated wine as a symposium supporter.
Q: When and where will the first round of judging be held, and how will it work?
A: The first round of judging will be held April 25–26 at the UC Davis Teaching and Research Winery (Viticulture & Enology) on the UC Davis campus. This judging will follow the same procedure as the finals: wines are tasted in flights of 10 and rated by each judge on a 100‑point scale. Ten top-rated wines in each category (i.e., white and red) will advance to the finals, with the format designed to ensure representation of both California and non‑California wines.
Q: If my wines advance to the finals, what will I need to do?
A: Finalists will be notified by email on or before May 1, 2026. If your wine advances, we’ll ask you to ship twelve (12) bottles, to be received at UC Davis by May 8, 2026, so your wine can be poured for the full finalist tasting on May 18.
If shipping is delayed or any logistics issues come up, please contact Lissi Knell (melissa_knell@harvard.edu) with details — we’ll do our best to work with you and make reasonable accommodations case-by-case. If a finalist is unable to meet the shipping deadline, we will notify the next highest scoring producer. We know this is a meaningful donation and tight turnaround; we’ll communicate clearly and work to make the process as smooth as possible.
Q: If my wine advances to the finals, why are 12 additional bottles required?
A: We recognize that 12 bottles is a substantial donation, and we are genuinely grateful to finalists for making it possible. The Judgment of Davis finals include a large tasting group — approximately 75 tasters— spanning expert judges, distinguished scholars and academic guests, Harvard and UC Davis faculty, and a limited number of ticket holders.
This broader set of ratings is part of the project’s research‑oriented design, increasing statistical power and enabling meaningful comparison across wines. The Judgment of Davis final round, in particular, differs from most other wine competitions in that it elicits responses from a large panel of judges: 75 people blind-taste each wine, of which about half will be wine professionals from all facets of the industry, from farmers to retailers to critics.
The unique data set generated by this experiment will be shared between professors and researchers who study the wine industry at several institutions, including UC Davis, Harvard, and EHL in Switzerland, and will be able to observe the similarities and differences in tastes between these groups.
By donating 12 additional bottles from your valuable inventory, round 1 winners will become and (if they wish) be recognized as sponsors of the Vine to Mind Symposium donors as well as the winners of the first round of the competition. These wineries, like the other sponsors who have made the multi-disciplinary symposium and its associated research projects possible, are supporting market research that we hope will generate useful, non-obvious results that benefit the whole wine industry and help businesses solve difficult market puzzles under tough market conditions.
Wineries that do not advance to the finals but are still interested in sponsoring Vine to Mind are also welcome to donate additional bottles to be served at conference events and be recognized as sponsors and be included in an information booklet (the “Wine List”) covering the wines served at the Symposium.
The 12 bottles submitted by each finalist are allocated as follows:
- Nine bottles for ~3‑oz pours for ~75 tasters with a one bottle backup
- One bottle for a May 20 Vine to Mind session where judges discuss the wines, finalists will be invited to attend this and a dinner where they will be honored.
- One bottle reserved for a Judgment of Davis archival cellar for future re‑tasting
Q: When and where will the finals be held, and how will it work?
A: The finals will take place Monday, May 18 in the Sensory Theater at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science (UC Davis campus). Finalist wines will be tasted and rated on a 100‑point scale by the expert judges and all invited/ticketed participants at the event. At the end of the red and white tastings, wines will be revealed and two classes of winners will be announced: one based on the expert judges’ scores, and one based on the scores of all participants.
Q: How do the judges in Round 1 and the finals differ?
A: Round 1 and finals judges will be two different groups with some overlap, with the standards applied consistently across both rounds. The main difference is geographic: Round 1 judges are primarily based in Northern California, while finals judges include experts from across the US and internationally, many of whom are also participating in the Vine to Mind Symposium.
Q: What if my wine advances to the finals but then doesn’t place well?
A: We don’t view it that way — and we won’t present it that way. Advancing to the finals is a significant achievement: only 10 wines per category reach that stage, selected by an outstanding professional jury. Finalists will be celebrated as top representatives of their category and will be featured accordingly at the Vine to Mind Symposium and through our communications (press releases, websites, media interviews, and related materials).
Q: What happens if my wine does not advance to the final round—will my submission be made public?
A: No. If a wine does not advance to the final round, the wine and producer names will not bereleased publicly. We greatly appreciate your participation and donated samples, and we treat all non-finalist submissions as confidential.
Q: Is the Judgment of Davis a money-making activity?
A: No. The project is conducted in conjunction with the Vine to Mind Symposium, a nonprofit academic conference co‑organized by Harvard and UC Davis partners. Support comes from university funds and philanthropic donations. A limited number of public tickets are offered, but ticket revenue is intended only to help cover event costs — not to generate profit.
Q: Whom can I contact with questions?
A: For questions related to shipping and receiving wine, logistics, attending the Judgment or the conference, or sponsorship opportunities beyond the Judgment, please reach out anytime to Lissi Knell (melissa_knell@harvard.edu). We’re happy to help and appreciative of your consideration.
For other questions or concerns about the Judgment of Davis in general, including the judging process, the experiment, or the methodology, please reach out anytime to co-organizer Robin Goldstein (rgoldstein@ucdavis.edu).