The USA Wine Ratings looks to recognize, reward and help promote wine brands that have successfully been created to identify with and target a specific wine drinker. For any wine brand to earn its place on a retailer’s shelf or a restaurant’s wine list -  and then vitally stay there - they need to be marketable and consumer-driven and not just produced in the general hope it can find enough people willing to sell and buy it.

That is why the USA Wine Ratings is different as compared to other international wine competitions in the USA. USA Wine Ratings will be held on July 28, 2025 in San Francisco. It will single out and shine the spotlight on those wine brands that consumers really want to buy and have a clear market value for trade buyers.

A ratings that will judge wines in three key areas:

1. Their quality
2. Their value for money
3. What they look like

To be an award winner at the USA Wine Ratings, you will need to have a top-quality wine, that offers both the trade and the consumer great value for money, and you will need to look good and truly stand out on the shelf and on the back bar.

Quality

The USA Wine Ratings is not about recognizing wines that achieve the best scores in terms of just quality, but you would struggle to drink more than a glass of. We want to celebrate wines that are both enjoyable and easy to drink. Wines that are well balanced, where their acidity, tannins, and alcohol levels all work seamlessly together. That’s the quality factor.

Value for money

You don't need to be the cheapest wine on the shelf to offer the best value for money. Far from it. A wine may have a high price tag, but can still offer great value providing it delivers the right quality and taste for a wine at that price point. The USA Wine Ratings will assess each wine for how much value it is offering its customers.

Package and Design

This is arguably the most important part of a wine brand to get right. For, after all, what a wine brand looks like is how every consumer chooses the wine they want to drink. With their eyes first. Up to 65% of consumers will try a new wine just because it looks good and if you can match that with a price and quality of wine that offers great value for money, then you are more than halfway home. The USA Wine Ratings will reward those brands that show they understand their customers, and the price category they are operating in, and have produced a design and package with the right personality to attract and keep their attention. 

Commercially relevant

Crucially all the winners in the USA Wine Ratings will give future trade wine buyers, be they for a supermarket, specialist wine retailer, casual dining or upmarket restaurant, the reassurance that these are wines that their customers want to buy.

Competition organizers

The USA Wine Ratings has been created exclusively by the Beverage Trade Network, the US drinks events, services, business, and publishing group dedicated to helping drinks producers and brand owners get closer to the buyers, distributors, and retailers that can bring their products to market.

It is part of a new wider USA drinks awards initiative that also includes The USA Wine Ratings that looks to reward and highlight market-driven consumer.