Our second contest. Our second win! It’s been a good year!
2020 USA Wine Ratings
The USA Wine Ratings announced the 2020 winners on November 16, 2020. And Grateful Lane Artist Series 2019 Sauvignon Blanc won a SILVER!!!
Wines from 30 different countries were submitted with United States, Spain and Italy being the top 3 entrants. There were new additions like Ireland and Brazil.
Here’s how it worked…
To win a USA Wine Ratings award you need to score highly in all three areas of judging criteria. You might have an outstanding quality wine, but if the price and packaging is not right, you will not be recognized by the USA Wine Ratings.
Each submission is assigned a unique submission reference number. The wines are assigned a score for quality and value on a blind-tasting basis. Following this, the wines are brought to the judges and arranged together for the packaging score for that flight.
Scoring system
USA Wine Ratings score is decided on the following judging formula: Q (Quality Score) + Value Score (V) + Package Score (P) = USA Wine Ratings Score.
Quality Score: was marked out of 100
Based on how agreeable the wine is for its target customer and chemical analysis. Measure quality considering the following characteristics of the beverage: Appearance, Aroma, Body, Taste, and Aftertaste.
Value Score: is marked out of 100
How well a particular wine is priced and what value it offers, greater the quality offered for the price, greater the value score will be.
Package Score: is marked out of 100
Packaging is measured by how well judges think the wine will be perceived by the consumer. The package will be judged for the Off-Premise market considering factors like label design and information, closure, and overall look. This does not involve boxes, cartons, and bags. It is how they think the product will be perceived when placed on a wine shelf amongst thousands of other wines.
A separate weighted score was given for each of the three parts of the judging process. Quality gets twice the weight. The scores were calculated to give a final score out of 100 from which individual prizes were awarded.
Gold: to receive a Gold medal you need to score 90 or over.
Silver: you need to score between 80-89.
Bronze: you need to score between 70-79.
Who are the judges?
The USA Wine Ratings is assessed and judged by a leading panel of top-level wine buyers with current direct commercial buying responsibility. Or wine consultants and experts who are also directly involved in the development of new wine brands or buying wine for commercial resale.
The list of judges is drawn from leading retail chains, wholesalers, distributors and on-trade groups across a variety of channels and disciplines including multiple retailing, convenience stores, cash and carries, specialist retailers, casual and fine dining, hospitality and the travel industry.
We are grateful, happy and proud to be a winner of the USA Ratings SILVER award.
