Wine judging process
Judging process
Achieving an IWSC award isn't easy, but that's what makes the medal so well respected
We run a tightly structured, rigorous wine tasting process. The format of our judging sessions allows for group discussion, which also ensures maximum exposure to key decision makers, who receive full details of the wines they have tasted after the session is complete.
Our points of difference
In order to promote your wines to the right audience, we ask for full details of the distribution channels of all wines entered into the IWSC, along with their end market – on-trade, off-trade or multinational
Wines are pre-poured in numbered glasses to guarantee anonymity
Wines are assessed blind by industry leaders, including critics and commercial decision makers within the on-trade and off-trade
We are the only competition to limit the number of samples to a maximum of 65 tasted during each judging day. This allows time for panel discussions and prevents palate fatigue.
After each tasting session, rated wines are showcased to all judges, giving your wines extra exposure
You will receive details of the experts who assessed and tasted your wine after the tasting
Why do we need four samples?
We want to ensure that if a wine is faulty or damaged we can serve a fresh sample to avoid any of your wines getting an unfair score. In addition, if your wine wins a gold medal it will be put forward for our trophy judging, where we will use a bottle in these judging sessions. Spare bottles are used for promotional activities throughout the year.
