If your summer plans involve wine in any way—visiting wineries, attending a wine tasting, dining out at a restaurant with an excellent wine list or just kicking back with friends and a bottle of wine, it’s easy for you to enter this year's short video contest! Just tell us a compelling story about your love for wine—what it adds to your life, what sparked your passion for it, what it has taught you, how you enjoy it or whatever else inspires you!
This year we’ve added a second category for entries! Along with our traditional, horizontal “Premier Video” format, in which entrants have up to two minutes to tell their stories, we’ve created a separate competition option for “Short-Form Social Videos.” These vertical videos—similar to TikToks or Reels—are 30 seconds or less, with more focus on creating attention-grabbing moments around wine than on technical production skills. The two categories will be judged separately and prize-winning finalists will be chosen from each; one Grand Prize will be awarded from among all the finalists.
For examples of wine videos, see the winners, finalists and honorable mentions from past years' video contests or check out the free videos posted at WineSpectator.com.
Deadline
All entries must be submitted by Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Who Can Enter?
Anyone can enter—whether you’re a wine lover, work in the wine or restaurant industry, or are a student of film, culinary arts or viticulture and enology. You do not need to be a pro videographer. You do not need a pro camera setup. (A past runner-up was shot entirely with an iPhone, and our new Short-Form Social Video category encourages creativity over technical skill.) You do need to be at least 21 years old.
Can Wineries Enter?
Videos submitted by winery owners, winemakers or other winery staff may picture specific wines, but videos that are deemed advertisements or predominantly promotional in nature will not be considered. A couple low-key label or bottle shots are fine; videos will not be chosen as finalists if they open and/or close with branding shots and/or if they repeatedly splash the brand on the screen. If you are part of a winery team, tell us a story, educate us, capture our hearts and, most of all, share why wine is important to you.
For a great example of a winery-focused story, check out the 2018 first-place winner, “The Soul of Barolo.”
Judging
Criteria: We’re looking for creativity and great storytelling that demonstrates a love for wine. While production quality is a key factor in judging the Premier Videos, the Short-Form Social Videos place more emphasis on creating fun, compelling moments around wine.
Picking the Finalists: Wine Spectator editors will judge the Premier Video and Short-Form Social Video categories separately and select the best videos within each category. These finalists will be posted at WineSpectator.com on Monday, Sept. 16.
Picking the Winner: Visitors to WineSpectator.com will vote for their favorite video among the Finalists in the Premier Video category and in the Short-Form Social Video category during the voting period, which runs from Monday, Sept. 16, through Sunday, Sept. 22 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Ballot stuffing is prohibited. Compensation may not be offered in return for votes.
Announcing the Winner: The second- and third-place recipients, along with any honorable mentions, will be revealed Tuesday, Sept. 24, at WineSpectator.com. The first-place video will be revealed on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Prizes
1. Entry Prize: Everyone who submits a video judged by our editors as a valid submission will receive a 12-month full-access membership to WineSpectator.com, which includes more than 425,000 wine reviews. Current members will receive an extension of their membership. (Limit one entry prize per entrant.)
2. Finalist Prizes: Two sets of finalists will be chosen by our editors, one set in the Premier Video category and another set in the Short-Form Social Video category. Finalists will each receive a pair of tickets to one of the following events of their choice: any one of the 2025 Grand Tour tastings (dates and locations TBD) or one of the two evening Grand Tastings at the 2024 Wine Experience in New York City, either Oct. 17 or 18. Finalists' videos will be posted at WineSpectator.com and/or on Wine Spectator’s social media accounts.
3. Grand Prize: The creator of the winning video—chosen from the finalists in both categories—will receive a pair of full event registrations to either Wine Spectator's 2024 Wine Experience in New York City on Oct. 17–19, 2024, or the 2025 Wine Experience. There will only be one Grand Prize awarded, and the Grand Prize winner will not receive a Finalist Prize in addition to the Grand Prize.
The Rules
- Premier Video format and length: Horizontal (landscape) format (16:9 aspect ratio). Must be a minimum of 30 seconds long and must not exceed 2 minutes.
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Short-Form Social Video length: Vertical format (optimally 9:16 aspect ratio). Must not exceed 30 seconds.
- The entrant, all persons associated with the video production, and anyone appearing in the video who interacts with wine must be 21 years of age or older at the time of production. (Proof of age may be requested.)
- Videos must not contain any copyrighted material (including copyrighted music) unless the entrant has the rights to the material.
- Videos must be the entrant's original creation.
- Videos cannot contain any profanity, offensive language, nudity or otherwise objectionable material, the determination of which is solely at the discretion of Wine Spectator.
- Wine Spectator is not responsible for any wine reviews or opinions contained in entrants' videos.
- Videos must be in the English language or subtitled.
- If your video includes persons other than yourself, you must have consent from those persons to appear in your video and in this contest.
- Wine Spectator reserves the right to reject, not to use or make available for public viewing, or at any time remove any video that Wine Spectator finds unsuitable for any reason at its sole discretion.
- Multiple entries are allowed.
- The Finalist who becomes the Winner will receive the Grand Prize (and not the Finalist Prize).
- All submitted videos may be used for promotional purposes by Wine Spectator.
Technical Specifications
The video file size must be no larger than 500MB.
We accept these video file formats: mp4 or mov.
How to Submit Your Video
It's easy. Complete the entry form and upload your video.
Got Questions?
Email us at video@winespectator.com.
