The entry process for the 2021 London Wine Competition is open until February 22. To stand a chance of winning you need to understand what the judges are looking for from the entries.
We talk to three key members of the UK wine industry who will be sharing their knowledge, and expertise as wine buyers and being able to assess which wines stand out from the rest when they take part in the judging this year’s London Wine Competition. Between them they have many years of experiences working with producers and identifying the wines that are going to appeal the most to British wine drinkers. Which ultimately winning a medal or a trophy in the competition is all about.
Anne Jones, category manager for drinks at Waitrose
Waitrose’s Anne Jones says she really enjoys the opportunity to assess wines for their design, price and quality
Why do you want to be a judge in the London Wine Competition – what makes it different?
Out of all the competitions I judge for, the LWC is unique in assessing wines in the context of both the liquid in isolation as well as in the context of how a shopper would see it. That makes it really interesting to judge, especially given the global reach of the entries. There’s always a really respected core of high quality judges too, so it’s an opportunity both to lend my experience and feedback to producers through the judging, but also to learn from my peers.
The competition assesses wines on their quality, price and design – what do you look for in design/packaging in particular to help it stand out? And how do you then judge that versus the price being asked for it?
For me it’s about judging first the liquid and then the whole package. Firstly there is the quality of the packaging materials and design, and if that is commensurate with the quality of the liquid.
Secondly with pricing it’s about whether the design aspirations align with the producers pricing aspiration within the context of the market for that style, origin and type of wine. The design itself needs to have clarity and to be able to tell the consumer what the producer wants them to ‘hear’ so you have to use your experience to assess what the product needs to ‘say’ and what the target customer needs to ‘hear’ and then to assess if those things are compatible.
What would be your prediction in terms of wine styles, countries and regions to look out for in 2021?
It’s been interesting to see the evolution of trends over the last year, but many of these are building on previous developments. We all hope that the sherry trend continues its rise, also Albariño, Chenin Blanc and English wine as well as ‘known’ varieties from less common origins. Other styles in which we’re seeing growth are appassimento-style reds, organic wines and other sustainable projects such as ‘natural’ or orange wines, cans and other packaging formats.
Elizabeth Kelly MW, wine buyer, Majestic
Elizabeth Kelly MW has recently joined Majestic as part of its wine buying team
Why do you want to be a judge in the London Wine Competition?
It will be my first year judging at the LWC this year and I’m interested to be assessing packaging as well as wine quality – it is such an important part of the customer purchasing decision, and LWC is the only competition that I’ve judged at that looks at this in combination with wine quality.
What do you look for in packaging to help it stand out?
There is no one size fits all as it depends on the price and the customer that you are aiming the packaging at – also understanding where it is going to be sold and how it fits in with the rest of the wines on display is important.
One particular bugbear of mine is heavy bottles – whilst it is understandable that a premium wine might want to stand out when it is nearly magnum sized or a still wine in a champagne weight bottle it just isn’t necessary and is really bad for the environment.
What trends are you producing to to see in the wine category in 2021?
2020 felt like a year of the classics, during lockdown customers seemed to be searching out classical regions again, perhaps due to the comfort factor of knowing what they are buying.
I think 2021 may lead customers back to exploring new places especially if we are all able to start travelling again – fingers crossed we can all get our adventurous streak back again.
English wine should also go from strength to strength with customer recognition bolstered by a lot of staycation visits to wineries in 2020.
David Round MW, Round About Wine – the wine buying consultancy
David Round likes how the London Wine Competition assesses wines in the same way a consumer would – with their eyes as much as their mouth
Why do you want to be a judge in the London Wine Competition?
Wines are usually judged in competitions either for the liquid in the bottle or for the packaging that the liquid comes in. The London Wine Competition’s point of difference comes from the fact that not only is the wine judged by blind tasting, free of preconceptions, but that once a score for wine quality has been agreed and awarded, the same judges examine the packaging. Now I know how important the bottle, label and capsule is to me as a consumer, so it’s great to have the opportunity to look at the whole picture.
What do you look for in design and packaging in particular to help it stand out?
I’m looking at style, content and aesthetics.
For style, does the packaging reflect the style of the wine, whether it be restrained, bold, precise, simple etc? Basically, to what degree could I use the same word to describe both the taste of the wine and its presentation?
For content, I’m looking to see whether the amount of information and the positioning of it is appropriate for the target market. For a cheaper wine, this may mean a focus on a grape variety, country or well-known region but not an overload of information (particularly on the front label) that will confuse or impede a quick decision. For a more expensive wine, this would involve giving more prominence to quality cues, such as more specific provenance, a property name, a quality descriptor and vintage.
A
esthetic considerations are more subjective, but involve a judgment about how intrinsically attractive the label looks. Will it make people want to pluck it off the shelf to look at it? Would they be happy to have it sitting on their table at dinner? Is it memorable enough for someone to recognise it again next time they want to buy it?
What would be your prediction in terms of wine styles, countries and regions to look out for in 2021?
With the uncertainty cast over the industry and its customers by the current pandemic, forecasting seems like a bit of a mug’s game. So here goes…
I think rosé will continue its inexorable rise, which will favour countries and regions most successful with this style. People will also be desperate to get out and about, even if it’s just the garden or their local park, so convenient non-glass packaging will continue to grow in volume but also in quality.
The popularity of regions may be determined by currency and supply-side issues that affect price and marketing focus – English wines may do well because of lack of currency fluctuations and increasing volumes available and South Africa will be keen to build volume in its export markets.
- If you would like to find out more about the London Wine Competition then click here.
- If you would like to enter your wines then click here.
- You can find the full list of judges here.
- Entries for the award end on February 22.
- Judging Date: March 15, 2021
- Winners Announced: March 30, 2021
