The Sommeliers Choice Awards provides on-premise buyers and sommeliers a valuable benchmark for understanding which wines would make a compelling addition to a wine list.

The wines were judged in five categories: food pairing ability, typicity, quality, value, and packaging. The judges ask themselves, would I stock this wine, and is it good enough for customers to order a second glass? Wines are graded out of 100, with only those above 95 points winning the coveted Double Gold award. There are also category awards, with best in the show given to white, red, sparkling, rosé, and an overall winner every year, by the bottle and by the glass – reflecting how wine is presented in restaurants.

Here are the 5th edition results:

Image: No. 1 Spot: Wine of the Year - Sandeman 50-Year-Old Aged Tawny Port

WINE OF THE YEAR:

• Sandeman 50 Year Old Aged Tawny Port, Potugal

WINE OF THE YEAR BTG

• Porta Da Ravessa Vinho Branco White Wine Special Edition, Portugal

WHITE WINE OF THE YEAR

• Wakefield St Andrews Chardonnay, Australia

WHITE WINE OF THE YEAR BTG

• Carneros Cuvée, United States

RED WINE OF THE YEAR

• Sandeman 50 Year Old Aged Tawny Port, Potugal

RED WINE OF THE YEAR BTG

• Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile

SPARKLING WINE OF THE YEAR

• Carneros Cuvée, United States

SPARKLING WINE OF THE YEAR BTG

• Grand Brut, France

ROSE WINE OF THE YEAR

• Angels & Cowboys Brut Rosé, United States

ROSE WINE OF THE YEAR BTG

• Arca Nova Vinho Verde Rosé, Portugal

WINE OF THE YEAR BY VARIETAL:

• Pinot noir: Bouchard Aine & Fil Fixin La Maziere, France
• Cabernet Sauvignon: Trefethen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, United States
• Chardonnay: Wakefield St Andrews Chardonnay, Australia
• Sauvignon blanc: Chaleur Blanc, United States
• Tempranillo: Orube Crianza, Spain
• Riesling: Goldtröpfchen Riesling Auslese, Germany
• Shiraz: Zilzie Regional Collection Shiraz, Australia
• Pinot grigio: Iris Vineyards Brut Sparkling Wine, United States

View All Results

Image: Mauricio Perez (left), Ankita Okate (centre), Sid Patel (right), Beverage Trade Network, Organizers of Sommeliers Choice Awards

Winners will also be promoted on BTN’s new direct-to-consumer portals Los Angeles Drinks Guide, London Drinks Guide, Chicago Drinks Guide, and New York Drinks Guide along with BTN’s trade portals Sommeliers Business and BevRoute.

The top 100 wines for restaurants will also be marketed to sommeliers around the USA via the top 100 on-premise wines website.

About Sommeliers Choice Awards

The goal of the Sommeliers Choice Awards is simple: to provide on-premise buyers and sommeliers a valuable benchmark for understanding which wines would make a compelling addition to a wine list.

Image: Sommeliers Choice Awards, Judging Process

Medals will be awarded to those wines that meet very specific judging criteria, with the goal of identifying wines that should become valuable additions to restaurant wine lists. Wines will be judged according to criteria such as how well they pair with food items in addition to their overall versatility. The pertinent questions that sommeliers attempt to answer as they judge wines are: “Would we stock this?” and “Would the customer buy a second glass of this wine?"

How the Scoring system works:

F (Food pairing ability Score) + T (Typicity Score) + Q (Quality Score) + Value Score (V) + Package Score (P) = Sommeliers Choice Awards Final Score.

Food pairing ability

The food pairing ability of a wine is measured based on the variety of dishes that the wine can be paired with instead of just one or two.

Typicity

Typicity is a term in wine tasting used to describe the degree to which a wine reflects its varietal origins and thus demonstrates the signature characteristics of the grape from which it was produced, for e.g. how much a Merlot  “tastes like a Merlot”. It is an important component in judging a wine competition when wines of the same variety are judged against each other.

Quality

Quality will be assessed based on how agreeable the wine is to its target customer and chemical analysis. SCA will measure quality by its Appearance, Aroma, Body, Taste and Aftertaste.

Value

Value in this context means how well the wine is priced based on its quality. Judges will blind taste and write what they think should be the cost on which they will buy the wines and is fair. If they think it offers excellent value, the score should be close to 100 and if they think it should be priced lower, then the score should be low. The metric to be used here is the on-premise price vs quality.

Packaging

Packaging will be measured by how well judges think the wine will be perceived by the consumer. The package will be judged for the on-premise market considering factors like label design, information, closure, and overall look. This does not involve boxes, cartons and bags. It is how they think the product will be observed when placed on a wine shelf amongst thousands of other wines.

A separate weighted score will be given for each of the parts of the judging process. The scores will be added up to give a final score from which individual prizes will be awarded.

• Double Gold – 96 points and above
• Gold – 90-95 points
• Silver – 80-89 points
• Bronze – 70-79 points

Find full 2023 results here

Press Contact:

Sid Patel | sid@beveragetradenetwork.com | Sommeliers Choice Awards | PH: +1 855 481 1112 (USA)