Skip to main content

Want to Compete in a Winemaking Reality Show?

Reality shows have become something of a guilty pleasure in recent years. Ironically, these supposedly “real” shows have slipped into a pit of manufactured drama and emotionally manipulative editing. Thankfully, a more refined reality show is ripening on the vine: a winemaking competition called Best Bottle.

“The show is inspired by a love for the wine community,” says Executive Producer Scott Krauger, who also has more than 25 years of experience in the wine industry. “It’s also about wanting to change the world through wine; to get people to slow down, eat great food, invite their friends and family over, and put a bottle of wine on the table.”

Recommended Videos

Related: Join the Cult: The five best cult wines in the world

In the show, representatives from two well-known wine regions will compete to make the best bottle of wine they can. The first season will feature winemakers from California and Oregon, and each state will have five competitors — affectionately called “cellar rats.” The contestants will compete and be eliminated until only one cellar rat from each region remains. The winner of the ultimate showdown will win $100,000, a new car, and an exclusive winemaking deal.

BB_Oregon_Vs_California
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Think Top Chef meets How It’s Made, with a little bit of Project Runway in it,” says Krauger. “There’s elimination, there’s inter-team rivalry, and there’s also interstate rivalry. One of the things I’m excited about is the smack talk between Napa and Oregon.” We’re also told to expect challenges, celebrity judges, and a real look into the winemaking process.

BB_LOGO_REALITYThe show is greenlit and ready to go. The producers of Best Bottle, along with distribution partner Mance Media, are currently looking at various network and streaming options. All they need now are some competitors; that’s where you come in.

Best Bottle is currently accepting video entries through July 1st. Competitors must be over 21, have some experience in the wine industry, and harbor a genuine passion for wine. If this describes you, head over the the Best Bottle website and check out the eligibility requirements.

Since there are many excellent wine regions in the world, the show will be a global affair. “We will be filming Australia versus New Zealand in March of 2016, then in the fall of 2016, we will come back and film the winner of season one against Washington for season two,” says Krauger. “Think of it as the World Cup of Wine.”

Stay tuned, wine lovers.

TJ Carter
Former Digital Trends Contributor
TJ Carter wears many hats, both figuratively and literally. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2011 with a degree…
Tony Soprano vs. Walter White: Who is the ultimate antihero?
TV's biggest heavyweights duke it out for the antihero crown
Breaking bad season 4 screen shot

Sports fans often debate between two heavyweight legends. For basketball, it's LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Switching to tennis, you have Roger Federer fans and Rafael Nadal diehards. Debates like these are ingrained in the culture of athletics, but TV fans have their own version of this sparring match.

Tony Soprano from The Sopranos and Walter White from Breaking Bad are the two characters who still send shockwaves through every drama in the 21st century. These men were the perfect mix of good and evil. They navigated family life and the criminal underworld with cunning intelligence and ruthless risk-taking. Every show with morally gray characters at the center owes its storyboard to Walter and Tony, but which character deserves the antihero crown? This is Tony Soprano vs. Walter White for all the marbles.
Who was the more complex character?

Read more
Learn how to smoke a pipe the proper way with our guide for beginners
Let us show you the classy way to smoke a pipe
Packing a pipe

Pipe smoking is the most aesthetically distinguished way to enjoy tobacco, but you lose the classy effect if you don’t know how to smoke a pipe properly. Smoking a pipe has become a lost art, and these days, most people who engage in pipe smoking do so to achieve a sense of nostalgia. Perhaps your grandfather enjoyed a puff now and again paired with a good stiff whiskey, or maybe your goal is to emulate a pipe-smoking artist.

I know that I enjoy a good puff on a pipe now and then, and knowing the right way to enjoy a pipe has made the experience much more pleasurable for for me. Whatever the case, if you intend to take up the time-honored tradition of unwinding with a pipe like me, you should learn how to smoke a pipe the right way. And smoking a pipe is very different than smoking a cigar (except you shouldn't be inhaling either).

Read more
Don’t ruin your cigars: here’s how to properly season a new humidor
Seasoning secrets every cigar lover could use
faceless man presenting a cigar humidor with cigars inside with gloved hands

If you're a newcomer to the world of cigars or just bought a brand-new humidor, you'll need to season it. And no, I'm not saying to add salt and pepper to it. If you've never heard of it, you might ask, "What is seasoning for a humidor?"

Don't think you need to flavor the box or anything — seasoning is really about getting the wood inside your humidor so as not to rob your cigars of precious moisture. Easy to understand, and getting it done is relatively straightforward as well. The trick is figuring out the "why," and we'll get into that in a bit. But let's first discuss seasoning a humidor.

Read more