The London Wine Competition was first launched in 2017 and has gone on to reward wines from all over the world.
Ask the average wine buyer, wine merchant, sommelier and, crucially, typical wine drinker what it is they look for in a wine then the chances are their answers will be roughly the same. A wine that ultimately has great quality and is great to drink, a wine that matches the price point being asked for it and offers great value for money, and a wine that looks good and its design lives up to what it tastes like and costs.
Those are the parameters on which the London Wine Competition is based. A competition that starts with the consumer and looks to identify the wines from all those entered that are the most likely to be bought in a retailer, restaurant, pub or bar.
Consumer appeal
It’s why so much of the effort that goes into the London Wine Competition is centred around how can it support the winning entries and push and promote the Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winning wines not just to influential buyers in the trade, but to consumers around the world.
It does that by:
- promoting the results to the 50,000+ trade professionals that are part of the Beverage Trade Network community.
- including them in the various trade facing online publications the Beverage Trade Network produces including two new dedicated sites for the UK market that have been launched in the last few months: Drinks Merchants; and The On-Trade.
- Featuring the winners on its dedicated consumer online drinks websites aimed at drinks enthusiasts around the world including the London Drinks Guide and then similar guides around the world in the US, and across Asia including New York Drinks Guide and San Francisco Drinks Guide.
- Including them in the Top 100 winners list of the LWC 2023, a one stop guide to the best performing wines entered into the competition.
Top Judges
Some of the judges lined up to take part in the 2023 awards
A drinks competition is only as strong and credible as the judges behind it. Which is why the London Wine Competition only works with judges that have direct professional wine buying experience or working in the trade as a Master of Wine, consultant or have an influence on what consumers are drinking. Over the years the judging panel has built up to include a roster of top names from across the UK’s biggest supermarkets, most prestigious restaurants and top suppliers, importers and distributors. This includes a growing number of Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers.
You can see who is lined up to judge the 2023 awards by clicking here.
Scoring
The London Wine Competition’s scoring system is built around awarding different scores for a wine over three key criteria:
- Quality Score – based on blind tasting the wine.
- Value Score – based on first blind tasting the wine and then knowing its price.
- Packaging Score – judges are asked to examine the packaging and design.
The three scores are then added together to establish the London Wine Competition score which will determine which medal the wine should be awarded or not.
- Wines scoring 65-75 are awarded the Bronze Medal.
- Between 76-89 they qualify for the Silver Medal.
- Any wine scoring above 90 wins a Gold Medal.
- 90 plus wines are then considered for Special awards like Wine of the Year, Winery of the Year, Best in Show by Country, Best in Show by Varietal, Best Wine of The Year by Quality, Best Wine of The Year by Value, and Best Wine of The Year by Package.
How and when to enter
The entry process for the London Wine Competition 2023 is now open and offers a number of different packages based on when wine businesses decide to enter. These include:
- £75 Super Early Bird – May 2 to August 31, 2022
- £85 Special – September 1 to October 16, 2022
- £95 Early Bird – October 17 to Dec 9, 2022
- £110 Regular – December 10 to Feb 22, 2023
Key Dates
Warehouse Closes for entries: March 2, 2023
Judging Date: March 20 & 21, 2023
Winners Announced: April 12, 2023
Registration Ends: February 22, 2023
