Competitions, Wine

Well-run reputable wine competitions can be extremely lucrative for the organizers, and can play an important part in marketing, which is why some wine labels are adorned with medals and the like, and some wine merchants’ lists are dotted with lists of awards. Care should be taken when studying these claims that the competition was a recent and respected one, and that the successful wine was exactly the same bottling as the one on offer. Two of the most ambitious and successful international wine competitions are the International Wine Challenge held every year in London and the newer rival event organised in London by Decanter magazine. They attract thousands of entries from around the world and most of their garlanded wines are of genuinely superior quality. The International Wine and Spirit Competition is an older British rival. Most wine competitions in wine-producing countries are national rather than international. Some of France’s most important are associated with agricultural shows, especially those of Paris and Mâcon; Germany has its dlg. Some of the more respected of the many wine competitions held regularly in the US are the Critics Challenge International Wine Competition, Dallas Morning News Wine Competition, the Indy International in Indiana, Long Beach Grand Cru, Los Angeles County Fair’s International Wine & Spirits Competition, Pacific Rim International, Riverside International, San Diego International, San Francisco International Wine Competition, San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, Sunset International Wine Competition, and the New York Wine and Food Classic for new york wines only. The explosion of interest in wine in china has been accompanied by a rash of wine competitions there. It should be remembered, however, that few of the world’s most revered producers enter such competitions, and certainly none of those who produce very limited quantities. It is difficult to imagine there will ever be a wine competition which will identify the best, rather than the best of those who have something to gain by entering. In Australia they are known as wine shows.