Official Rules

The Competition is operated by Libation Awards LLC, doing business as Libation Awards ("Operator," "Libation Awards," "we," "us," or "our"). Its official website is favoritewinery.com (the "Website").

An "Entrant" is the winery business submitting an entry. A "Competitor" is an accepted Entrant participating in a voting round. A "Representative" is a person authorized to act for a winery. A "Voter" is an eligible individual casting votes. Collectively, they are "Participants."

These Official Rules ("Rules"), the published Competition Schedule, the Libation Awards Terms of Use, and the Privacy Policy govern participation. The Rules control competition-specific matters if they conflict with the Terms of Use. Section 22 governs disputes and is intended to match the dispute provisions in the Terms of Use. Mandatory legal rights remain applicable.

Participants agree to these documents through the Website's applicable acceptance process. A Representative accepting these Rules for a winery confirms authority to bind that winery. An unclaimed informational listing alone does not constitute entry or agreement by the listed business.

Entry is open to lawfully operating commercial wineries located in the 50 United States or the District of Columbia. Each winery must hold the licenses required for its operations and provide sufficient information to verify its identity, location, and authority to participate. No purchase, entry fee, wine shipment, or tasting sample is required.

Only one entry is permitted per winery business or distinct winery brand. Multiple tasting rooms, locations, profiles, or representatives do not create additional entries for the same winery. Separately operated winery brands under common ownership may enter only after Operator verifies that each has a distinct public identity and is not a duplicate entry. Common ownership must be disclosed.

Representatives and Voters must be at least 21 years old and legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia. A Representative must be an owner, officer, employee, or other person authorized to represent the entering winery. An eligible voter need not have visited or purchased from a winery to support it.

Operator's officers, directors, employees, contractors directly involved in administering the Competition, and their immediate family members may not enter or control an entering winery. The same restriction applies to personnel of a sponsor or prize provider who have access to confidential voting information or influence over eligibility, vote verification, or winner selection. "Immediate family" means a spouse, parent, child, or sibling.

Operator may request reasonable verification of age, identity, winery licensing, common ownership, or a Representative's authority. Failure to provide information reasonably needed to establish eligibility may result in rejection or disqualification. Participation is void wherever prohibited by law.

Visit the Website and submit the official entry form during the published entry period. Provide the winery's legal and public-facing names, location, website, contact information, Representative's identity and authority, business description, and requested photographs, logos, or other profile materials.

If the Website offers a claim feature, only an authorized Representative may claim a winery listing. Creating or claiming a profile does not guarantee admission; the winery must complete any required entry steps and receive acceptance from Operator.

Entries must be accurate, complete, timely, and consistent with these Rules. Operator may request corrections or additional verification before acceptance. An automated submission acknowledgment is not necessarily an eligibility determination.

Operator may reject duplicate, fraudulent, misleading, ineligible, or materially incomplete entries. A winery must notify Operator of a material change in its eligibility or ownership during the Competition. Acceptance of an entry remains subject to Section 4 and does not guarantee that voting will begin on the initially announced date.

The Competition is contingent upon a sufficient number of eligible, verified winery entrants to support a viable competitive event. Before public voting begins, Libation Awards reserves the right, in its sole discretion exercised in good faith, to postpone the Competition, extend the entry period, modify the event format, add or remove rounds, adjust groupings or advancement requirements, change the schedule, or cancel the Competition if the minimum or critical level of entrant participation has not been met.

Operator will determine whether participation is sufficient by considering the number of accepted wineries, the planned group and round structure, and the operational and financial viability of conducting the advertised Competition. Unless a numerical minimum is expressly published on the Website, these Rules do not promise a particular minimum entrant count. If Operator publishes a numerical minimum, it will not retroactively increase that minimum to invoke this section after the originally announced entry deadline.

This right may be exercised at any time before public voting opens, including after entries have been accepted or a tentative voting date has been announced. Submission or acceptance of an entry, creation of a profile, or expenditure on a winery's own promotional efforts does not guarantee that the Competition will launch.

Any postponement, material modification, or cancellation under this section will be announced on the Website before voting opens. Operator will also notify registered Representatives using the contact information on file. A postponement notice will identify a revised voting date or a date by which a further scheduling update will be provided. Entrants may withdraw before voting begins without penalty.

Operator will not accept votes or sell votes before the announced opening of public voting. If any advance vote payment is nevertheless collected and the Competition is canceled before voting begins, that payment will be refunded to the original payment method, subject to applicable law. Upon a postponement, any such advance payment will be refunded on request.

If the Competition is canceled under this section before voting begins, no winner will be selected and no Competition prize will be awarded, except to the extent applicable law requires otherwise. To the extent permitted by law, Operator is not responsible for an Entrant's voluntarily incurred advertising, preparation, staffing, or other participation expenses. This provision does not limit refund obligations or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

This minimum-participation cancellation right expires when public voting opens or the first public vote is accepted, whichever occurs first. Any later interruption, modification, or cancellation is governed by Sections 16 and 18. This section does not authorize a reduction in an earned prize or a retroactive change to votes already accepted.

Operator may screen entries and profile materials for eligibility, completeness, authenticity, and compliance with these Rules. Screening is an administrative review, not a tasting competition or a discretionary substitute for the public vote.

Submitted photographs, logos, descriptions, videos, and other materials ("Submitted Materials") must be owned by the Entrant or used with all necessary permissions. Obtain permission from photographers, designers, other rights holders, and identifiable people where required. Do not submit confidential information, misleading award claims, unlawful content, or material that infringes another person's rights.

Operator may decline, remove, or request correction of material that is fraudulent, threatening, harassing, defamatory, sexually explicit, unlawful, or otherwise materially inconsistent with these Rules. Reasonable formatting edits do not permit Operator to misrepresent the winery or its achievements.

Entrants should retain their own copies. Submitted Materials will not be returned. Operator may request additional materials reasonably needed to verify an entry, maintain its profile, or fulfill a prize.

Entrants retain ownership of their Submitted Materials. Participation does not transfer ownership of a winery's name, trademarks, photographs, or other intellectual property.

By submitting materials, the Entrant grants Operator a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, reproduce, format, display, distribute, and make reasonable technical adaptations to those materials for administering the Competition, displaying profiles, promoting participation, announcing results, and delivering the advertised prize package. Operator may allow service providers to use materials only to perform those functions for Operator.

This permission includes use of the winery's public name, logo, city and state, profile, award status, and authorized statements in Competition-related websites, social media, press releases, interviews, and promotional communications. It does not authorize unrelated endorsements, materially misleading edits, or legal proceedings in an Entrant's name.

Entrants may request removal of materials they control. Operator will stop new promotional use within a reasonable period after honoring a request, subject to prize fulfillment and applicable retention obligations. Previously distributed materials, historical Competition results, winner announcements, and reasonable backups may remain. Private identity, payment, and verification information is governed by the Privacy Policy and is not licensed for public promotion by this section.

Public voting opens and closes at the dates and times stated in the Competition Schedule. All stated times are United States Eastern Time, including applicable daylight saving time. Operator's recorded receipt time controls, subject to correction of verified technical errors.

Free voting.

Each eligible Voter may cast one free vote per calendar day, from 12:00 a.m. through 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time, across the entire Competition. That daily vote may be cast for one active Competitor. Unused free votes do not accumulate. No purchase or payment method is required to use the free-vote method.

Operator may use reasonable account, email, SMS, or other verification to confirm eligibility and enforce the one-person limit. Verification alternatives and any required information will be disclosed through the Website. Creating multiple accounts does not entitle one person to multiple free votes.

Optional paid votes.

Eligible Voters may purchase additional votes for an active Competitor at the price and quantity displayed before payment, subject to Section 8. Paid votes are optional and increase the receiving Competitor's total by the number of valid votes purchased. They do not guarantee advancement or victory and do not give the Voter a prize, ownership interest, or share of winnings.

Voting promotions.

Operator may offer publicly announced bonus-vote periods, multipliers, or other voting promotions. Their start and end times, eligible purchases, and vote values must be disclosed before the promotion begins and applied consistently to eligible Participants. Promotions may not retroactively change the value of a completed purchase.

"Qualifying Votes" are votes properly received within the applicable voting period that satisfy these Rules and pass reasonable verification. Unless the Competition Schedule expressly states otherwise before voting opens, rankings and advancement are based on the total Qualifying Votes applicable to the current round, including any announced promotional vote values.

Votes submitted after a round closes, votes for an inactive entry, and votes generated through prohibited methods will not count. A purchase charged after the applicable cutoff without delivery of valid votes will be corrected or refunded. Rankings are provisional until verification is complete.

A winery may not purchase votes for its own entry or directly or indirectly fund, reimburse, or arrange another person's purchase of votes for that entry. This restriction includes purchases by its owners, officers, directors, and authorized Competition Representatives, whether using business or personal funds, and purchases by an entity under common ownership or control.

A winery may encourage customers, supporters, friends, family members, and employees to vote. Employees and other supporters who are not otherwise covered by the preceding restriction may purchase votes independently using their own funds. Winery owners and Representatives may cast their own eligible free votes. Ordinary advertising that invites the public to support an entry is permitted; paying for another person's votes is not.

No Participant may exchange money, goods, discounts, refunds, services, or other consideration for a specific vote or vote purchase, except under an expressly authorized, published Operator promotion. Do not require employees or customers to buy votes, make false statements about charitable contributions, or misrepresent the Competition's rules.

Bots, scripts, purchased voting accounts, fabricated identities, stolen payment information, coordinated account sharing, and methods designed to evade voting safeguards are prohibited. Participants may not hire services that manufacture votes or use deceptive or automated voting methods.

Operator audits votes for hacking, fraud, and other violations of these Rules, both while voting is open and after each round closes, before results are finalized. Operator reserves the right, in its reasonable discretion, to void any vote it finds suspicious or inconsistent with these Rules — whether or not the conduct is described in this section — and to exclude voided votes from rankings and advancement decisions. Voided votes are not refunded except as required by law.

Operator may audit votes, payments, accounts, and relevant supporting records; temporarily hold disputed votes; void invalid votes; suspend access; or disqualify a winery that knowingly participates in or funds a material violation. Adverse action against a winery will be based on reasonable evidence, not solely on unsolicited activity by a third party attempting to harm that winery.

Payment reversals may remove the associated paid votes. A chargeback alone does not establish misconduct by a winery. Operator may correct rankings or advancement when verified errors materially affect results and will explain material corrective action to affected Representatives, subject to reasonable privacy and security restrictions.

Report suspected errors or manipulation promptly to info@libationawards.com.

The confirmed Competition Schedule will be published on the Website before public voting opens. It forms part of these Rules and must state the entry deadline, each voting period's opening and closing time, active rounds, group structure, advancement counts, and expected winner announcement date.

Accepted wineries will ordinarily be assigned randomly to initial groups of approximately ten wineries. Groups may vary in size. Operator may adjust the number and size of groups or omit unnecessary rounds before voting begins, including under Section 4, but must publish the resulting structure before accepting votes.

Advancing wineries may be assigned to subsequent rounds through a randomized balancing process designed to create competitively comparable groups. Assignments will be determined using objective criteria and will not be based on the operator's preference for a particular winner.

The Operator may include one or more optional wildcard rounds. In a wildcard round, the second and third place finishers (or such other placings as the Operator publishes for that round) from each group in the preceding round are divided into new groups for an additional chance to advance. Votes are reset for the wildcard round, and public voting determines the top Competitor from each wildcard group, who then rejoins the wineries that won their groups in the preceding round for the following round. Competitors who won their group in the preceding round do not compete in the wildcard round and retain their place in the following round. Whether a wildcard round is used, and the placings eligible for it, will be published before that round begins.

The standard progression is set out below. Only rounds identified in the confirmed Competition Schedule will operate. Before voting begins, Operator may, in its discretion, add, remove, combine, split, or reorder rounds, adjust group sizes or advancement counts, or otherwise change the format to accommodate the verified entrant pool. Operator will publish the resulting rounds, schedule, advancement rules, and vote treatment before accepting votes for the affected round. Any adjustment needed to accommodate the accepted entrant count must be completed before voting begins.

Except for the expressly stated carryover between group qualifying and group finals, votes do not carry into a later round. Buying votes for one round does not purchase votes for a later round. The Website must clearly identify the active round when a purchase is made.

Once voting begins, rounds, resets, advancement rules, and deadlines may be changed only as permitted by Section 16. Operator will not change them solely because participation, vote purchases, or revenue are lower than expected.

If eligible wineries are tied at an advancement cutoff in a round other than the Finals, all wineries tied for the last advancing position will advance. Operator may make the corresponding administrative adjustment to the next round and will announce it before that round begins. Where a tie affects assignment to a wildcard, a winery advanced through the tie will not also receive a duplicate wildcard entry.

If two or more wineries tie for first place in the Finals, the tied winery with the highest aggregate Qualifying Votes across all rounds in which it participated will receive the higher placement. If that total also ties, Operator will conduct an additional free-voting period restricted to the tied wineries.

Each additional tiebreak voting period will last 24 hours, with its start and end announced to the tied wineries and on the Website. Each eligible Voter may cast one free tiebreak vote during that period. Paid votes and multipliers will not be offered. Tiebreak votes begin at zero for each additional period. If a tie remains, the process will repeat until one winery receives the highest number of valid tiebreak votes.

No coin toss, random drawing, or undisclosed discretionary judging criterion will determine the Grand Prize Winner.

Operator will publish round results on the Website and notify advancing wineries using the contact information provided by their Representatives. Representatives are responsible for maintaining current contact details and monitoring Competition communications.

The apparent winner remains a "Potential Winner" until Operator verifies eligibility, vote integrity, authority to accept for the winery, and compliance with these Rules. A Potential Winner must return reasonably required eligibility certifications, tax information, payment instructions, and prize documentation within 14 calendar days after notice, unless Operator grants a reasonable extension.

If a Potential Winner is ineligible, refuses the prize, or fails to complete verification after reasonable notice, Operator may designate the next-highest eligible finalist as the Potential Winner, applying Section 10 if needed. Operator will not select an unrelated winery through undisclosed discretionary criteria.

The verified winner's winery name, city, state, and award will appear in a public winner announcement. Sensitive personal, tax, and banking information will not be included.

One verified Grand Prize Winner will receive:

• The title America's Favorite Winery for the Competition year stated in the published Competition Schedule.
• A cash prize of ten thousand United States dollars (US $10,000), payable to the verified legal entity operating the winning winery.
• A national press and promotional package, consisting of a winner announcement press release distributed to relevant national, regional, wine, beverage, and lifestyle media contacts; a featured winner profile on a Libation Awards website; promotion through Libation Awards' social media channels; and a digital winner badge and promotional graphics for the winery's authorized use.

The cash prize will be paid within 30 days after final verification and receipt of complete payment and tax documentation. Operator will complete the promised press and promotional deliverables within 90 days after verification, subject to reasonable scheduling cooperation by the winning winery.

The verified winner will receive a 90-day national earned-media and promotional campaign from Libation Awards, including a custom-written winner announcement, targeted outreach to national and regional wine, beverage, travel, lifestyle, business, and community media, a featured winner profile on the Competition website, promotion through Libation Awards' social-media and email channels, a digital press kit, localized media materials, and one interview or recorded winner feature. Libation Awards will make reasonable promotional and follow-up efforts but cannot guarantee independent media coverage, publication, audience size, sales, or other business results. Paid advertising, wire-service distribution, and third-party media purchases are not included unless separately announced.

The package provides the stated publicity work and owned-channel exposure. It does not guarantee independent editorial coverage, a particular audience size, an increase in sales, or any result outside Operator's control. Any published numerical distribution or promotional commitment must be included in the final prize description before voting opens.

No runner-up cash prize, travel benefit, or separate sponsor-selected winner is offered under these Rules. An additional award or promotion requires its own published terms before Participants take action to qualify for it.

The prize belongs to the winning winery business, not automatically to its Representative or individual owners. The winery is responsible for providing accurate payee and tax information and for applicable taxes. Operator will make any required tax reports or withholding in accordance with law.

The winery must cooperate reasonably in verifying its identity and preparing the promised publicity materials. It is not required to purchase goods, advertising, services, or votes as a condition of claiming the prize. Prize documents may confirm these Rules but may not materially reduce the advertised prize or add undisclosed payment conditions.

If a noncash promotional component becomes unavailable for reasons beyond Operator's reasonable control, Operator may substitute a component of equal or greater value that serves a substantially similar promotional purpose, subject to applicable law. The $10,000 cash prize may not be replaced with credits, discounted services, or a lower cash amount without the winner's written agreement and any consent required by law.

The winery may accurately promote its award using the Competition year and any supplied brand guidelines. It may not imply that the award is a professional tasting score, an endorsement of every product, or recognition for years or categories in which it did not win.

Operator may offer separate promotions connected with the Competition. Before a promotion begins, Operator will disclose who may participate, age and geographic restrictions, the promotion period, how eligibility and any winner will be determined, the benefit or prize, and material conditions.

Separate promotions do not change the main Competition's rankings, advancement, prize, or voting rules unless a permitted change is clearly disclosed under these Rules. Any vote multiplier or bonus-vote offer must comply with Section 7.

Participants must act lawfully and comply with these Rules and the Terms of Use. Harassment, threats, impersonation, false award or charity claims, interference with competing wineries, unauthorized access, and deliberate disruption of the Website or voting process are prohibited.

Operator may take proportionate action for a verified material violation, including removal of content, correction or voiding of votes, account suspension, or disqualification. When practical, Operator will provide notice and an opportunity to correct an administrative issue. Immediate action may be appropriate to address fraud, security threats, or serious misconduct.

Operator's good-faith administrative decisions are final for conducting the Competition, subject to correction of verified errors and Participants' rights under Section 22 and applicable law. Disagreement with Operator or truthful criticism alone is not grounds for disqualification.

If a material technical failure, fraud, unauthorized interference, natural disaster, legal restriction, or other circumstance beyond reasonable control prevents the Competition from operating fairly or lawfully, Operator may pause an affected round, extend a deadline, correct invalid results, or make another reasonably necessary adjustment.

Operator will preserve valid votes where reasonably possible, explain material changes on the Website, and notify affected Representatives. Corrective action must be applied consistently and be limited to addressing the identified problem. An emergency does not authorize undisclosed advantages for selected wineries or retroactive repricing of completed purchases.

If completion becomes impracticable, Operator may cancel the Competition. Operator may award the advertised prize based on the last reliable verified standings only if that method can fairly determine a winner under the circumstances and is announced with an explanation. Otherwise, no winner will be declared and Section 18's cancellation refunds apply.

Lower-than-expected entrant participation or voting revenue, by itself, is not a ground for cancellation under this section after voting has begun. Section 4 governs decisions based on minimum participation before voting opens.

An authorized Representative may request withdrawal by emailing info@libationawards.com. Operator will use reasonable efforts to process a verified request within 48 hours. A profile may remain visible during processing and afterward to explain the withdrawal or preserve historical results, but new votes will be disabled when the withdrawal is processed.

Votes cannot be moved to another winery because an entry withdraws. Voluntary withdrawal does not, by itself, create a right to refund votes validly cast before withdrawal, subject to Section 18 and applicable law. Charges for votes that cannot validly be delivered after withdrawal are subject to correction or refund.

Purchases of validly cast votes are generally final, subject to the exceptions in this section and applicable law. Votes have no cash redemption value and cannot be resold, exchanged, or transferred after casting.

A winery's ordinary elimination, voluntary withdrawal, or disqualification does not automatically entitle supporters to refunds for votes validly cast while it was eligible to receive them. This rule does not excuse Operator from correcting an unauthorized or duplicate charge or refunding a purchase that Operator rejects, cancels, or fails to deliver.

If Operator cancels the Competition without completing it and awarding the advertised Grand Prize, vote purchases for that Competition will be refunded to the original payment method. Section 4 also governs any advance payments collected before voting begins. Refunds will be initiated promptly, subject to payment-provider processing times and any legally required deadline.

When a payment is refunded or reversed, the associated votes may be removed. These Rules do not limit a Voter's lawful right to dispute a charge with a payment provider. Contact Operator promptly about billing problems so they can be investigated.

No provision of these Rules overrides a refund, remedy, or consumer right that applicable law makes nonwaivable.

Entry and vote purchases are not represented as charitable donations by Participants. A Voter should not claim a charitable-contribution deduction for a vote purchase based on participation in this Competition.

If Operator announces charitable support associated with the Competition, a written disclosure will identify the beneficiary, the amount or calculation method, any minimum or maximum contribution, and the expected timing of payment. If a calculation uses net proceeds, the disclosure must explain the expenses deducted.

Operator will honor any publicly announced charitable commitment in accordance with that disclosure and applicable law. These Rules do not independently promise a particular charity, percentage, or contribution amount. Participants may not advertise an unannounced partnership or make contribution claims beyond Operator's published disclosure.

The Privacy Policy governs collection and use of account, entry, voting, verification, and payment-related information. Public winery profiles and Competition results will be displayed as described in these Rules. Sensitive identity, tax, and banking information is used for appropriate verification and administration, subject to that policy and applicable law.

Operator may send operational communications about an entry, round, account, purchase, scheduling change, or prize. Marketing email and text messages remain subject to applicable consent and opt-out requirements. Agreeing to these Rules alone is not consent to marketing text messages. Participants may opt out of marketing while still receiving necessary operational communications through an appropriate channel.

To the extent permitted by law, Operator and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from the Competition, including lost profits or expected business opportunities.

Subject to the exceptions below, their aggregate liability for claims arising from the Competition will not exceed the greater of $100 or the amount the claimant paid Operator for this Competition during the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

These limitations do not restrict required refunds, delivery of an earned prize, liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or gross negligence, or any liability or remedy that cannot lawfully be limited. They do not shorten an applicable statutory period for bringing a claim. The liability provisions in the Terms of Use are intended to operate consistently with this section.

Operator does not guarantee uninterrupted access or freedom from technical errors and is not responsible for a Participant's own internet connection, equipment, or independent third-party promotional activity. These limitations remain subject to Operator's express obligations under these Rules and applicable law.

Informal resolution

Before commencing arbitration, either party should send the other written notice describing the dispute, relevant facts, and requested resolution. Send notices to info@libationawards.com, with the subject "Legal Dispute Notice," or to the address in Section 24. Operator will use the contact information associated with the relevant account or transaction.

Both parties will attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute for 30 days after receipt. Applicable filing deadlines will be tolled during that period to the extent permitted by law. This process does not prevent a timely filing needed to preserve a claim, an eligible small-claims action, or urgent provisional relief.

Agreement and procedure

Except as stated below, Participants and Operator agree to resolve disputes arising from these Rules, Competition participation, or purchases through binding arbitration before one neutral arbitrator administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA"). The Federal Arbitration Act governs the arbitration agreement.

Consumer disputes will use the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules and applicable consumer protections; business disputes will use the AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules where appropriate. Applicable AAA rules govern administration and fees. Operator will pay fees allocated to the business under the applicable consumer rules. Rules and filing information are available through the AAA.

Consumer hearings will take place in a reasonably convenient location, with remote or documents-only proceedings available as permitted by the rules. The arbitrator may award relief available on an individual claim under applicable law. A court with jurisdiction may enter judgment on the award. Any judicial review available under applicable law remains available.

Courts, rather than the arbitrator, will decide disputes about formation of this arbitration agreement or enforceability of the class-action waiver. Other questions of arbitrability will be decided as provided by applicable law and AAA rules.

Exceptions and class action waiver

Either party may bring an eligible individual claim in small-claims court or seek temporary court relief needed to preserve rights pending arbitration. Claims that applicable law excludes from arbitration may proceed in court. Participants may contact or complain to government agencies. Nothing waives nonwaivable rights to public injunctive relief or other protected remedies.

To the extent permitted by law, Participants and Operator agree to bring claims only in an individual capacity, not as a plaintiff or class member in a class, collective, or representative action. The arbitrator may not conduct a class arbitration or combine different parties' claims without all affected parties' consent.

This waiver does not displace mandatory AAA procedures governing coordinated individual claims or restrict rights that cannot lawfully be waived. If a court finds the waiver unenforceable for a particular claim or remedy, that claim or remedy will proceed in court; severable claims subject to enforceable arbitration remain in arbitration.

Opt out and administration

A Participant may opt out of arbitration and the class-action waiver by emailing info@libationawards.com within 30 days after first accepting these Rules. Use the subject "Arbitration Opt-Out" and include the Participant's name, mailing address, account email if applicable, and clear opt-out statement. A Representative acting for a winery must identify the winery and authority to act.

A valid opt-out under the Libation Awards Terms of Use also applies to this Competition, and a valid opt-out under these Rules applies to related Competition disputes under the Terms of Use. Opting out does not affect eligibility or the remaining Rules.

If AAA declines or cannot administer a dispute, the parties may agree to another administrator; otherwise either may proceed in a court with jurisdiction, subject to enforceable remaining provisions. If Operator fails to pay required fees or comply with administration requirements, Participants retain remedies available under AAA rules and law, including court access where permitted.

This section survives withdrawal and account closure. A later amendment will not apply to an existing dispute unless both parties expressly agree after the dispute arises.

Governing law and courts

Subject to the Federal Arbitration Act and nonwaivable protections, Virginia law governs these Rules without applying conflict-of-laws rules that select another jurisdiction's law. For claims properly brought in court, the parties consent to courts of competent jurisdiction in Virginia, except where an applicable small-claims rule, mandatory consumer protection, or other law permits or requires another forum.

These Rules, the confirmed Competition Schedule, applicable published promotion terms, and the Terms of Use form the agreement concerning participation, subject to mandatory law. The Privacy Policy governs personal information practices. An individual promotional message or informal statement does not amend the Rules unless Operator issues a written amendment in accordance with them.

Before voting begins, material changes must be published and communicated to registered Representatives; Section 4 specifically governs changes for insufficient participation. After voting begins, Section 16 controls material operational changes. Previously accrued prize, payment, and refund obligations remain enforceable.

If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to apply, subject to Section 22's specific severability provisions. Failure to enforce a provision once does not waive future enforcement. Administrative decisions do not eliminate rights protected by applicable law.

Libation Awards

Attn: America's Favorite Winery

8665 Sudley Rd. #195

Manassas, VA 20110

Email: info@libationawards.com

Telephone: (800) 563-3182

Contact Operator with Competition questions, withdrawal requests, billing issues, or a request for the verified winner's name.