Tennessee has six of the seven best wines in the south. This is what you should be drinking.

In October, the University of Tennessee's Food Science Department hosted the 17th annual Wines of the South competition with entries from 47 wineries across eight states ranging from Texas to Virginia.

Tennessee wines - which composed the majority of entries - blew away the competition, taking the top spot in six of those seven categories. American Wine Society-trained judges, many of whom have judged the competition for years, rated entries.

Points were awarded based on clarity, color, aroma, taste, balance and overall quality, with the wines judged to have the fewest faults receiving the highest scores. Winners were named in the following seven categories: rosé and blush, dessert/fruit, red, sparkling, white, muscadine, and cider.

Narmada Winery of Amissville, Virginia, was the sole award-winning winery outside the Volunteer State, with its "Midnight" wine claiming Best of Red as well as the overall Best of Show. Made with 100 percent Chambourcin, a French-American hybrid grape variety, aged in French and American Oak, the wine's juicy grape flavor is complemented by notes of strawberry and boysenberry. 

The Muscadine Spumante from Sevierville's Hillside Winery was another standout, receiving both Best of Muscadine and Best of Sparkling. "I know a lot of the judges were impressed by that one," says Curtis Luckett, director of UT's Center for Sensory Science and assistant professor in the Food Science Department, which hosts the competition. The Muscadine Spumante was also the winner of the William O. Beach Award, named for Judge William O. Beach of Clarksville, who in the late 1970s pioneered legislation that revived Tennessee's wine industry. The namesake award goes to the best wine made entirely from Tennessee fruit.

Making fruit wine (not from grapes) is generally more popular in the South than in other regions, and Tennessee is one of the primary sources of muscadine wine, Luckett says. He says this likely is due to the region's climate rather than taste preferences. Cider production is also becoming increasingly popular in the state, which led competition organizers to include it as a category beginning in 2017. 

Here are the judges' picks for the best wines in the South.

' Best of Rosé and Blush: Country Rapids, by Mill Bridge Winery, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

' Best of Dessert/Fruit: Blackberry, by Old Millington Winery, Millington, Tennessee

' Best of Sparkling: Muscadine Spumante, by Hillside Winery, Sevierville, Tennessee

' Best of Red: Midnight, by Narmada Winery, Amissville, Virginia

' Best of White: Moscato, by The Winery at Seven Springs Farm, Maynardville, Tennessee

' Best of Muscadine: Muscadine Spumante, by Hillside Winery, Sevierville, Tennessee

' Best of Cider: Pomicide, by Mill Bridge Winery and Cider, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee