Today, the Cholula Whittle-Off is sponsored by the CCG, Rosa’s Cantina and Cuervo International, the company that manufactures the hot sauce. The original hardwood bottle stoppers are now replaced with basswood stoppers to make the task of carving a little easier, a new power carving division has been added and, due to the increasing number of participants, the site of the contest has been moved to the Hamlet at Mill Stone Gardens — but the spirit remains the same.

“The atmosphere is great,” Lou says. “CCG members are scattered all over the state, but we all know each other. It’s a lot of fun to get together and see what a little hot sauce can do for basswood.”

East Coast Corkers

Competitions featuring creatively carved bottle stoppers are not limited to the West Coast. For the past two years, the Northern Virginia Carvers and Mountain Heritage Crafters have sponsored a bottle stopper contest that routinely brings creative carvers to the front line.

Part of the their annual Artistry in Wood Show, the NVWC’s bottle stopper contest is organized a little differently than the California Carvers Guild’s Cholula Whittle-Off. Bottle stoppers can be carved any time over the previous year, and the competition is held on three levels: novice, intermediate and advanced. No subject is taboo — as long as the “corker” is in good taste — and entries must include a cork stopper and be ready for display.

Mountain Heritage Crafters, a Bluefield, Virginia, mail-order business that sells tools and books for carvers, provides gift certificates for the first place winner in each division. Novice winners receive a $50 gift certificate, intermediate winners receive a $75 gift certificate, and advanced winners receive a $100 gift certificate.

This past year, Ralph Rogo of Tuxedo, New York, entered three bottle stoppers into the advanced division. His carving of a young hillbilly with a flying squirrel perched atop his hat took first place, and his mule with a carved bottle of “Old Mule Kick” took second place. Ralph’s third entry, a Scotchman with a beret, didn’t place.

Ralph’s pieces are carved in basswood, painted with acrylics, and finished with an oil stain. Most of his bottle stoppers are fastened to corks from old wine bottles and end up right back on their bottles once he gets home.

“Carve something different and you always have a chance of getting noticed,” Ralph says. “But carve something generic, and you’ll never go anywhere.”

Ralph also won second place in the contest with this bottle stopper carving of a mule. Both the bottle and the mule were carved from basswood.

East Coast carvers can participate in the Northern Virginia Woodcarvers’ bottle stopper carving contest. Ralph Rogo of Tuxedo, New York, won first place with his carving of a hillbilly and a flying squirrel (third from left). Ralph has found in his years of competing that a winning bottle stopper first     needs to be creative in design and then backed up with excellent carving skills.