(PD) - Nineteen judges practiced the art of persuasion as they sipped through a pool of more than 1,000 wines at Tuesday’s 2018 Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition.

The three-day contest, which began on Monday and ends today, tests the judges’ capacity to sway fellow panelists and ultimately determine sweepstakes winners. Every entry is vying for a top spot with the hopes of snagging a sweepstakes win in the categories of red, white or specialty wines.

“We’re like mini lawyers making our case,” panelist Christopher Sawyer said. The wine writer and sommelier at Sebastopol’s Gravenstein Grill said, “If you really like a wine, you take better notes to make your argument.”

The sweepstakes winners will be announced Sept. 30 at the Awards Night Gala at Santa Rosa’s Luther Burbank Center for the Arts. Tickets are $150 per person and the crowd will include participating wineries, their industry partners and the public.