2019 USA Wine Ratings Registration is Now Closed.

07/06/2019 2019 USA Wine Ratings winners will be announced on Aug 19, 2019.

Based on overwhelming popular demand, the USA Wine Ratings event in San Francisco will be returning for a second year on July 22, 2019.

The USA Wine Ratings is the only competition of its kind in the U.S. that rates wines according to three key variables: Quality, Value, and Package. Unlike other wine competitions, in which wines are assessed only on the basis of how they taste and look in a glass, the USA Wine Ratings competition considers two additional factors – Value and Package. The goal of the competition is to find wines that offer fantastic value to wine consumers. These wines should also offer a very attractive brand proposition to consumers. This is because consumers now view wine brands the same way that they view other brands in a supermarket or retail store, and that means a bottle of wine also needs to stand out while on the retail shelf.

Wine-Judge examining and tasting wines at 2018 USA Wine Ratings Competition in San Francisco

Image: Wine-Judge evaluating wines at 2018 USA Wine Ratings Competition in San Francisco

Beverage Trade Network, the organizers of the event, first pioneered this approach to judging wines at the London Wine Competition earlier this year. The competition received much popular acclaim. “What we heard from judges and participants is that this method of judging and evaluating wines is much closer to the way consumers actually judge wines. They buy wines with their eyes first and are looking for wines that offer value, and that’s what we are looking to find,” says Sid Patel, CEO, and Founder of Beverage Trade Network.

At the 2018 event, the Wine of the Year was a Reserve Merlot from St. Francis Winery & Vineyards. The wine scored a total of 95 points, making it a standout of the show and the highest-scoring wine in the competition. In addition, based on the strength of its other wines entered into the competition (including a Gold Medal-winning Reserve Zinfandel), St. Francis Winery & Vineyards also won Winery of the Year.

Reserve Merlot from St. Francis Winery & Vineyards With Food

Image: Wine of the Year Reserve Merlot from St. Francis Winery & Vineyards With Food

Other Gold Medal-winning wines at the 2018 USA Wine Ratings included Winemakers Selection Cabernet Franc (UnDouble), Alamos (E&J Gallo), Windrun Pinot Noir Vintage Selection No. 12 (Windrun Wine), 1917 Edicion Especial Merlot Tempranillo (Bodegas El Progreso), 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon (The Vice), Luna Nuda Rose (Castelfeder Winery), Solmayor Roble (Bodegas Soledad), Lake & Vine Red Blend (Lake & Vine), Alpasion Grand Malbec (Open Wings SA), and El Capitan Malbec (Finca Adelma).

This year’s USA Wine Ratings event saw a number of notable international wineries and overseas producers represented in the competition (including wines from Argentina, France, Spain, and Italy), and the goal is to attract even more of these foreign producers to the 2019 event. “The U.S. consumer is showing much more willingness to try wines from around the world, and we want to bring them the very best wines from foreign wine producing regions at our show,” says Sid Patel of Beverage Trade Network.

Medals given to winners of 2018 USA Wine Ratings

Image: Medals given to winners of 2018 USA Wine Ratings

To showcase the depth of international competition, the USA Wine Ratings event will continue to award “Best in Show by Country” to the very best wines from around the world. For example, at the 2018 show, Winemakers Selection Cabernet Franc from UnDouble won “Best in Show by Country” (France), while El Capitan Malbec won “Best in Show by Country” (Argentina).

The list of awards to be handed out at the July 2019 show in San Francisco includes the following:

In addition to the new judging system that awards points to wines on the basis of Quality, Value and Package, the USA Wine Ratings event is noteworthy for its selection of judges. All judges are required to have commercial buying expertise, as well as significant experience in evaluating wines from a consumer-centric perspective. The goal, quite simply, is to find the types of wines that consumers are going to buy. Award-winning wines at the USA Wine Ratings event come with an implicit promise that they are high-quality, commercially viable wines that will perform well in the U.S. marketplace.

To ensure that Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners achieve success in the U.S. market, the USA Wine Ratings event provides a range of marketing and promotion support. This includes TTB label approval support to send samples to the competition. As part of the marketing and promotion of all wines, USA Wine Ratings provides USA Wine Ratings stickers for bottles, certificates and labels, online and social media support, and hosting of offline events where USA Wine Ratings will promote the winning brands.

“We’re really looking forward to an even more exciting competition in 2019,” says Patel. “We were very impressed with the depth and quality of entrants at the 2018 USA Wine Ratings event, and are excited to see which wines from around the world will take home awards at next year’s event.”

Key Dates:

Domestic registration : Closed

International Registration : Closed

Warehouse closed for samples: July 10, 2019

Judging: July 22, 2019

Winners announced: August 19, 2019

About Beverage Trade Network

Logo of Beverage Trade Network's Website

Beverage Trade Network (BTN) is a global media and B2B networking platform servicing suppliers, buyers and beverage professionals in the global beverage industry. BTN also owns BevRoute, a magazine for importers and distributors, and runs a lineup of trade shows around the world, including USA Trade Tasting in New York, IBWSS UKin London, IBWSS USA in San Francisco, ABID Conference in New York, the London Wine Competition, the London Beer Competition and the London Spirits Competition.

Get rated by Quality, Value, and Packaging by the top trade buyers in the USA. Enter today and avail the early bird offer. Here is how to enter.