To be a real success a wine brand has to be bought by consumers, be it on a supermarket shelf or a restaurant wine list.

The London Wine Competition is being launched to identify and reward those brands and products that consumers actually want to buy, rather than simply recognise good quality wines for their winemaking ability alone.

To be a real success a wine brand has to be bought by consumers, be it on a supermarket shelf or a restaurant or bar's list. The London Wine Competition will single out and highlight the wine brands on sale in the UK and International markets that are truly commercially successful.

All winners in the London Wine Competition will have been judged in three key areas:

DRINKABILITY

All wines will be initially tasted blind to assess their quality and how drinkable they are they for consumers in their target area. The London Wine Competition wants to highlight and reward wines that are enjoyable to drink, not just high point scorers where one glass in enough.

VALUE FOR MONEY

Wines will then be assessed to see how much value for money they are offering their target wine drinkers at that price point.

PACKAGING AND DESIGN

As the majority of the wines brands are bought with our eyes, the London Wine Competition will recognise wines that stand out on the shelf, or on a back bar, and will assess how well suited that design or packaging is to their target consumer group.

The London Wine Competition has been introduced to give consumers a clear guide to the wines that are best suited to their tastes and give them maximum value for money. The majority of other wine competitions only judge wines blind and take into no consideration how much it might cost, or even have an idea of what it looks like.

With so many products now on the market, it is increasingly confusing and difficult for all wine drinkers, both enthusiasts and the occasional drinkers, to really know, with any great confidence, what they are buying.

The London Wines Competition has been created to put consumers back in charge. To give them the reassurance that any of the award winning wines with the LWC logo will have been based on how drinkable they are, how much value for money they offer, and what they actually look like.

Each of the London Wines Competition winners will receive either a Gold, Silver or Bronze award with separate weighted marks awarded by the judges for the wines quality and drinkability, value for money, and packaging and design.

Sid Patel, CEO of Beverage Trade Network and the organiser of the London Wine Competition, said: “We all need help when buying wines. There is simply so much choice out there. But at the end of the day, we want to invest our money in wines that we actually want to drink, be it with our partner or our friends. We want to highlight and reward those wines that have the winning combination of drinkability, value for money and that look great too.”

To help identify those wines, the London Wine Competition will work with a panel of commercially focused buyers currently working in either developing new wines for the market or directly involved in buying wine from all channels of the industry.

“Our judges will be making decisions every day about the commercial viability of the wines presented to them,” added Patel.

“We want them to regard the London Wine Competition as an extension to the great work they are already doing in their respective businesses. Together we can help create a selection of the most robust and commercially viable wines available in the world.”

Judging for the London Wine Competition takes place in March 2018 with the winners announced shortly after. Entries for the competition will open for all domestic and international wines on November 1, 2017.

HOW CAN YOU ENTER YOUR WINES IN THE LONDON WINE COMPETITION

1. Pre-register here to get the entry form

2. Enter your wine details

3. Ship your samples by February 20, 2018

KEY DATES

Pre-Registration Now Open (Get Best Pricing Before Nov 15, 2017)

Normal Registration Opens: 15 November 2017

Warehouse Opens For Samples: 1 November 2017

Registration Ends: 20 February 2018

Warehouse Closes For Samples: 20 February 2018

Judging: March 8 & 9, 2018

Winners Announced: 30 March 2018

FEE SCHEDULE

-£75 till 15 November 2017

-£95 from 16 November 2017 to 31 January 2018

-£125 from 1 February 2018 to 15 February 2018

-£145 from 16 February 2018 to 20 February 2018

SHIPPING INFO

Please send your wine samples (3 bottles per entry) to Sensible Wine Services (SWS) between 1 November 2017 and 20 February 2018 to the following address:

Sensible Wine Services (C/O LWC 2018)

Unit 10, Dana Trading Estate,

Transfesa Road, Paddock Wood

Kent

TN12 6UT

United Kingdom

Contact: Mr. Karl Franz

Telephone: +44 (0) 1580 715 725

Goods receiving time: Monday - Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm.

The wine that arrives after the deadline date will not be accepted and refunds will not be issued.

IMPORTANT

Clearly label each box of wine using the delivery label, which can be downloaded once you have entered and paid for your wine in your account.

If you send your wines directly to our warehouse, you must tick the option: ‘Duties and Taxes payable by shipped'. If the above is not completed, we cannot guarantee that the wine will not be stopped in Customs and arrive on time for the competition. London Wine Competition is not responsible for tracking the shipping of your wines, please ensure everything is in order before sending your wines.

Import License, Declaration & Duty

All duty, shipping costs, and taxes must be prepaid by the submitter of the samples. Wines must be Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), therefore instruction to complete the import declaration should be given to your forwarder/courier company, please choose ‘shipper accept all charges’ on the documentation provided by your courier company. Submitters should also be responsible for any fees related to the import declaration. Wines cannot be accepted by our logistic partner if the charges associated with shipping have not been paid. Any penalty and additional cost incurred from the non-compliance of declaration requirement in UK will be borne by the Submitters.

Do I Need To Insure My Wine?

LWC and its logistic partner will not take responsibility for wine damaged or lost whilst in transit. In the event that for reasons beyond the reasonable control of LWC, it is necessary or advisable for the LWC to be cancelled, LWC cannot accept any liability whatsoever for any direct or indirect loss of profit, damage or expense of any kind incurred as the result of such a cancellation.

ABOUT LONDON WINE COMPETITION

The London Wine Competition 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 London drinks awards initiative that also includes The London Spirits Competition.

If you would like any more information then please contact Sid Patel at sally@londonwinecompetition.com or call USA +1 855 481 1112 or UK +44 0203 8580159

Pre-Register Now