The big lesson from 2020 is whilst we have mostly been restricted about what we can do, particularly in terms of traveling, and holding live events and tastings, it has not been an excuse to stand still. Here’s how the Sommeliers Choice Awards has brushed itself down and come back for its 2021 awards with a host of new initiatives to take the event to the next level.

3rd Annual Sommeliers Choice Awards is set to take place in May 2021 in San Francisco, USA. With an aim to provide on-premise buyers and sommeliers a valuable benchmark for understanding which wines would make a captivating addition to a wine list, ace sommeliers and top-notch wine buyers and wine directors will be gathering in San Francisco on 16 May 2021 to judge the best wines within the industry.

Sommeliers Choice Awards is pleased to roll out shelf talker templates in the entrant zone and also on the winner's page along with the certificates. Entrants will now get tasting notes, shelf talker templates with tasting notes and scores breakdown in my account zone. This year's entrants can now go into their account and see their tasting notes which is a unified tasting note summarized by the organizer directly from the judges.

Entrants will be able to get detailed feedback which will allow them to see how their wines fared in terms of value and package especially when it comes to the on-premise sector. Entrants will get ready to use templates that they can email their retailers and distributors for free. Here’s an example of Sidewood Pinot Noir shelf talker.

View 2020 winners and download shelf talkers here

The Sommeliers Choice Awards was first introduced in 2018 to provide on-premise buyers and sommeliers a valuable benchmark for understanding which wines would make a compelling addition to a wine list. The judging panel of the Sommeliers Choice Awards in San Francisco will consist entirely of top sommeliers, on-premise wine buyers, and wine directors at U.S. restaurants, bars, pubs, and clubs. Medals will be awarded to those wines that meet very specific judging criteria, with a goal of identifying wines that should become additions to the 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 and other factors like Typicity, Pricing, Quality, and Package.

The Sommeliers Choice Awards was first introduced in 2018 to provide on-premise buyers and sommeliers a valuable benchmark for understanding which wines would make a compelling addition to a wine list. The judging panel of the Sommeliers Choice Awards in San Francisco will consist entirely of top sommeliers, on-premise wine buyers, and wine directors at U.S. restaurants, bars, pubs, and clubs. Medals will be awarded to those wines that meet very specific judging criteria, with a goal of identifying wines that should become additions to the 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 and other factors like Typicity, Pricing, Quality, and Package.

America's top sommeliers and restaurant buyers will judge the 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards and provide independent and honest reviews of all wines entered into the competition, based on several key criteria, such as Food Parability, Typicity, Quality, Value, and Package.  All the wines are scored on a 100-point scale, and the highest-scoring spirits receive Double Gold, Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. A separate weighted score will be given for each of the parts of the judging process.

The top two questions that sommeliers will be attempting to answer as they judge wines is: “Would we stock this?” and "Will the consumer buy the 2nd glass". 

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

What other Sommeliers and Master Sommeliers had to say... 

What is great about sommeliers choice awards is that we are picking wines that are in distribution, that work for restaurant budgets, that work for restaurant situations, not necessarily for the collectors of the world, or for people who are trying to flip these wines over. This is purely about that restaurant experience something consumers look for, you go out for a Tuesday night or to celebrate an anniversary - these wines are geared towards those situations and that dining experience and I think that's really powerful - Michael Meagher MS 

The thing that I like the most about the Sommeliers Choice Awards is the intention behind it. There are so many different types of competitions and judging these days to certify and sometimes that can become confusing for end consumers. So what I like about this is you get a very core group of judges in a room that a winery can go to the trade and say 'hey your peers are the ones who rated this wine' as opposed to some other people your buyers may not know. If I were a trade buyer and I was told the wines were judged by master sommeliers and these sommeliers, I would trust that score in the buying process more. - Jon McDaniel - Head of Wine Education at Scout & Cellar 

This judging is very different, what I like about it is that you can see all the wines after the blind scoring part is done. It's a really good round picture of the judging. This also allows us to make sure that packaging is not deceiving and the wines show the character displayed on their package. Sharyn Kervyn, CSW, Wine Director, Capital Grille.

Submission is now open for the 2021 Sommeliers Choice Awards. Brands can take advantage of the early bird pricing that is on till February 04, 2021, and get savings on the entry fee.