The World's Most Important Wine Competitions
Wine brands LOVE to show off their medal-winning wines, but how can you know if a wine competition actually has the goods to make a determination of what wines are great (and which ones aren't)? I've judged a ton of wine competitions, and here are so...
One of the longest-running and most prestigious wine competitions in the USA, the SFIWC attracts a top-notch judging crew every year.
Founded by Sunset Magazine, this excellent competition gets great judges and focuses on wines available in the western U.S. market.
Held each year in Texas, and associated with the popular TEXSOM event, this competition is big, and run well.
Simply put, Decanter has one of the very best international competitions, with extensive notes on each winner.
This is an excellent, well-run competition held in California's Sonoma wine region, showcasing wines made by women winemakers.
Held in a different wine region every year, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is one of the most well-regarded wine competitions in the world.
This competition in one of THE major wine events in China, focusing on wines for the Asian market.
This international competition is known for its rigorous judging, and its heavy-hitter judges (including several Masters of Wine).
A San Diego-based competition that uniquely brings in only wine critics /writers (like me) as judges.
Part of the Los Angeles County Fair, this is one of the longest-running wine competitions on the USA's west coast.
Held in the beautiful Finger Lakes wine region in New York, the FLIWC doesn't shy away from judging hybrid grape wines right alongside more traditional wine varieties.
Held in Australia, and including a great mix of judges from the wine world, this competition focuses on how wines perform at the dinner table when matched with food.
This excellent competition, held in Germany, is organized by Meininger Verlag, one of the best wine publications in the world.
This competition uniquely uses only on-trade / professional sommeliers as judges.
A sister competition to Critics Challenge, this one features a well-respected lineup of only winemakers as the judges.