The International Wine & Spirit Competition is an annual wine competition

Wine competition

A wine competition is an organized event in which trained judges or consumers competitively rate different vintages or bands of wine. There are two types of wine competitions, both of which use blind tasting of wine to prevent bias by the judges....

 founded in 1969 by the [German/British] oenologist Anton Massel.http://www.thewinecompetition.com. Each year the competition receives entries from over 80 countries worldwide. The awards given by the competition are considered to be some of the highest honors in the industry. The competition is considered to be the worlds most prestigious wine and spirit competition

The two stage judging process takes place over a six month period, consisting of blind tasting and detailed technical analysis. Entries are judged by panels drawn from 250 specialists from around the world.

Presidents

Since its inception in 1969, the competition has been supported by some of the most influential men and women in the drinks industry (below). This tradition is maintained by careful selection of a new President each year from the world of wines or spirits. A President serves a one-year term and then will join other former Presidents on the Competition’s Advisory Board.

2011 Prince Robert of Luxembourg, France

2010 Prinz Michael zu Salm-Salm, Germany

2009 Sir Ian Good, Scotland

2008 Rafael Guilisasti, Chile

2007 Gina Gallo, USA

2006 Anthony von Mandl, Canada

2005 Wolf Blass

Wolf Blass

Wolf Blass is an Australian winery based in South Australia's Barossa Valley.It was established in 1966 by Wolfgang Blass, a German immigrant from who arrived in Australia in 1961 with little money and a diploma in winemaking. One of his first jobs was with Tolley, Scott and Tolley as a winemaker...

, Australia

2004 Paul Symington, Portugal

2003 Claes Dahlbck, Sweden

2002 Dominique Hriard Dubreuil, France

2001 Warren Winiarski

Warren Winiarski

Warren Winiarski is California winemaker. Winiarski was born in a large Polish section of Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from high school, he entered the University of Chicago, then left for a school of agriculture and mining in Colorado, and finally graduated from St. John's College in...

, USA

2000 Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, France

1999 Miguel Torres

Miguel Torres

Miguel Torres may refer to:*Miguel Torres , American mixed martial artist*Miguel Angel Torres, Peruvian footballer*Miguel A. Torres, president of Bodegas Torres*Miguel Torres de Andrade, Brazilian footballer, writer, and actor...

, Spain

1998 Sir Anthony Greener, UK

1997 Jean Hugel

Jean Hugel

Jean "Johnny" Frederic Hugel was an Alsatian wine producer, described by wine expert Tom Stevenson as "the single most important person in the development of Alsace wine industry throughout the 20th century."...

, France

1996 Dr.Anton Rupert, South Africa

1995 Marchese Leonardo de Frescobaldi, Italy

1994 Michael Jackaman, UK

1993 Mme May de Lencquesaing, France

1992 Chris Hancock Hon MW, Australia

1991 Peter Sichel

Peter Sichel

Peter Max F. Sichel is a German American wine merchant, who created the success of the Blue Nun wine brand, for a while the largest international wine brand in the world....

, USA

1990 Robert Drouhin, France

1989 Jos Ignacio Domecq, Spain

1988 Marchese Piero Antinori, Italy

1987 Kenneth Graham, UK

1986 Dr.Max Lake, Australia

1985 Marquis de Goulaine, France

1984 Mme Odette Pol Roger, France

1983 Robert Mondavi Hon MW, USA

1982 Dr. Hans Ambrosi, Germany

1981 Harry Waugh Hon MW, UK

1980 Peter Noble

Peter Noble

Peter Noble is a retired football forward.Noble began his career with Consett where he combined a career in painting and decorating with football...

, CBE

1979 Cyril Ray

Cyril Ray

Cyril Ray was an English author and journalist. After a spell as a war reporter, and then a foreign correspondent he became best known for writing about food and, especially, wine...

, UK

1978 Sir Reginald Bennett VRD, UK

1977 Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, UK

Judging processes

The judging process is rigorous and two stage; blind tasting and detailed technical analysis undertaken by an independent laboratory. The competition maintains its high standards and smooth running by having its own purpose built premises including temperature controlled cellars, tasting rooms and a dedicated team of staff. The competition has its own storage facilities and cellaring for over 30,000 bottles. Judges sit in dedicated tasting rooms and are served only numbered glasses and an assessment sheet – at no time do they see the bottles.

It takes over six months to judge all the products as they are sorted into over 1500 categories. Initially all judging is by region/area; variety/style/type; vintage/age etc. Wines and spirits that win awards may then go forward to the appropriate trophy category to compete at national or international level.

The International Wine & Spirit Competition have over 250 specialists that travel from all over the world to judge. Many are Masters of Wine, some are winemakers or distillers

Distillers

Distillers may refer to:*The Distillers, an American punk rock band*Distillers Company, former Scotch whisky and pharmaceutical company...

, others are trade specialists. Every judge is screened and panels selected for their knowledge and expertise and only taste products that we are sure they know well and understand. All judges also attend an IWSC judges induction course.

Annual IWSC banquet

The International Wine and Spirit Competition culminates in London in November with the annual awards presentation and banquet, which takes place at the historic City of London Guildhall. The guest list of over 550 reads like a who’s who of the global wine and Spirits industry.