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Article 1 : Organiser

These rules can be consulted by anyone interested on the competition website www.challenge-millesime-bio.com. The competition Challenge Millésime Bio, organised by Sudvinbio, aims to promote organic wines.

Article 2 : Products concerned

This competition is open exclusively to certified wines complying with organic farming production methods: with and without Geographic Indication (AOP, PGI, wines without GI) with a vintage, sweet and sparkling wines. To enter, wines must come from a uniform lot fit for consumption and comply with current European regulations defined by the executive law CE

834/2007 of 28 June 2007 and application CE 889/2008 for vintages before 2012 and (UE) 203/2012 concerning organic winemaking rules for vintages from 2012.

Wines certified in accordance with the NOP regulations are also accepted (National Organic Program) as directed by the US Ministry of Agriculture (USDA, United States Department of Agriculture), section 205 of chapter 7 of the “Code of Federal Regulations,” whatever the certification category: “100% organic”, “organic” or “made with organic grapes” and/or the COS regulations (Canadian Organic Standards) as directed by ACIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), the organic produce law DORS-2009-176, organic wine category.

Article 3 : Participants

Winegrowers, wine cooperatives, united cooperatives, producer groups, producer-brokers and broker-cellaring companies are allowed to enter wines. Wines must come from a uniform lot fit for consumption. Wines should be available for sale with quantities larger than or equal to 1000 litres for red, white, rosé and sparkling wines and 100 litres for sweet wines. Bulk wines must come from an identifiable vat (unadulterated and marked). Bottled wines must come from a clearly identifiable lot.

Article 4 : Participants' undertaking

Each competition entrant undertakes to respect all articles of the regulations here and send all the information and documents requested on the registration form. 

Article 5 : Registration

For registration to be confirmed, each entrant must pay the entry fees for each wine submitted. These fees are set every year by Sudvinbio.

Each entrant must provide:

a- 3 x 75cl bottles, 4 x 50cl bottles, 6 x 25cl bottles or 2 x BIB (max. 5l) per sample

b- completed registration pack including: registration form properly dated and signed, certificate from an organic farming certifying body, 2 paper copies of each label (or digital image from the printer's file),

c- technical analysis dated within the past year including sample identification, the actual and potential alcohol, sugar levels (glucose+fructose), total acidity expressed in meq/l, volatile acidity expressed in méq/l, total sulphur dioxide in mg/l, excess pressure due to carbon dioxide for sparkling wines (expressed in bar),

d- certificate for wines with GI,

e- request for certificate for wines without GI with indication of vintage or variety.

The winning candidate and the organiser both keep a sample of the wine, the information sheet and the tech analysis. Samples are made available to the agents charged with checking for one year from the competition running date. The information sheets and tech analyses are made available to the agents charged with checking for a period of 5 years from the competition running date.

Article 6 : Getting samples to us

The wine samples are sent by each entrant at their own expense to the address indicated by Sudvinbio. To check that samples are representative, Sudvinbio will do an analytical test on 5% of award-winning wines.

Article 7 : Tasting

The samples are tasted by a panel put together by Sudvinbio. Samples are classified by categories. These categories are devised by Sudvinbio. Tasting conditions guarantee that samples are anonymous: each bottle is covered up in a black plastic bag or stocking. The jury is made up of at least 3 members contacted from Sudvinbio's taster database.

New tasters put in a request to Sudvinbio which is approved by the director of Sudvinbio and the competition coordinator.

At least 2/3 are proficient tasters – people in the following professions are considered proficient tasters: winemakers, wine industry journalists, wine traders, independent wine merchants, sommeliers, importers, exporters, brokers, agents, researchers, technicians and tutors in the wine sector.

Tasters are allocated to the different tasting tables according to their job so as to have several different professions represented on each table. The panel comes under the responsibility of a president, whose role is to arbitrate on differences in point of view and get a consensus among panel members for awarding medals.

Panel members sign a declaration of trust mentioning any ties with wines entered in the competition.

Article 8 : Awards

Each panel awards gold, silver or bronze medals. The total number of medals in one category is a maximum of 33 % of the number of wines in that category. No award is made if there are less than three distinct competitors in competition.

The competition name and year appear on the awards. The organiser hands out an individual award certificate including the competition's name, the category the wine was entered in, the medal awarded, the wine's name, the volume declared and the names and address of the title holder. 

Article 9 : Disputes

Any practical difficulties in applying or interpreting these rules will be dealt with by Sudvinbio without appeal.

In case of litigation, Sudvinbio will form an ethics committee of competent members and an organic certifying body. The make-up of this committee will depend on the nature of the legal dispute. If there's any doubt on the provenance or authenticity of a product, the wines concerned will be eliminated from the competition.

Article 10 : Promotion

Medal-winners authorise Sudvinbio to publish their name and any elements detailed in the tech sheet without affecting their other rights. Candidates whose wines have won a medal promise to send, free of charge to Sudvinbio if they so wish, a quantity not exceeding 6 bottles for promotional purposes.

Article 11 : Internal and external checking procedures

The director and competition coordinator at Sudvinbio are responsible for checking the competition rules are respected. Two months before the competition runs, Sudvinbio send to the management at the Languedoc-Roussillon Region's department for business, competition, consumption, work and jobs a notice specifiying the place and date of the competition and the competition rules.

Two months, at the latest, after the competition, Sudvinbio sends the Languedoc Roussillon Region department for business, competition, consumption, work and jobs, the minutes signed by the Director of Sudvinbio confirming the competition ran in accordance with the rules and including:

• the number of wines entered in the competition overall and by category,
• the number of wines retained overall and by category,
• the number of awarded overall and by category,
• the list of medal-winners and for each award-winning wine the details allowing the wine and the holder to be identified,
• the percentage of medal-winning wines compared to number of wines entered,
• the number of medals awarded and how they were allocated by award type.

Article 12: excise duty paid

Participants in the Challenge Millésime Bio competition undertake to present samples on which the excise duty has been paid.

Article 13: Refund and return of bottles 

Whatever the reason given, there will be no refund of participation fees or restitution of bottles except in cases where the contest organizers do not collect enough samples to constitute a category. 

In case of cancellation due to the health situation of the tasting on the scheduled date, Sudvinbio foresees a postponement of the date later ,when the sanitary conditions will allow it. Sudvinbio undertakes to store the wines in suitable conditions for the time it takes to reschedule the tasting (storage costs to be paid by the organizer). In case of postponement or cancellation of the event, Sudvinbio will in no case refund the participation fee or return the bottles.

Article 14: Number of wines entered in the competition

Each company can register up to 10 wines maximum for the tasting.

The Challenge Millesime Bio contest will limit the maximum total number of wines presented at the tasting. As a result, the registration period may, if necessary, end before the date announced in the competition calendar.