This succinctly captures the essence of the awards, highlighting the involvement of highly skilled master sommeliers in evaluating each wine entered into the competition.

The Sommeliers Choice Awards presents a unique platform where every wine is meticulously evaluated by seasoned master sommeliers. This prestigious competition sets itself apart by ensuring that an esteemed panel of experienced sommeliers, recognized for their expertise and discerning palates, meticulously assesses each wine entered. 

Sommeliers Choice Award’s judging standard operating principle is each panel must have a master sommelier on board and thus each wine will also have the judging input of a master sommelier.

The Court of Master Sommeliers was established to encourage improved standards of beverage knowledge and service in hotels and restaurants. The first successful Master Sommelier examination was held in the United Kingdom in 1969. By April 1977, the Court of Master Sommeliers was established as the premier international examining body. Though its members worldwide come from diverse backgrounds and experiences, they share a proven mastery of the art, science, and history that informs a sommelier's work.

These master sommeliers, possessing unparalleled knowledge and proficiency in the art of wine tasting, meticulously scrutinize every bottle based on a range of criteria, including taste, balance, quality, and value for money.

From left to right: Mark Guillaudeu MS, Jeremy Shanker, and Serafin Alvarado as its 2024 judges making it a total of 14 master sommeliers coming in 2024 judging panel. Each panel will have a master sommelier.

“When we started the competition 6 years ago, we wanted to create a new benchmark for wines for on-premise channels. We wanted to judge wines for sommeliers and by sommeliers. A master sommelier to me is the highest qualified individual when it comes to reviewing wines technically for on-premise lists. When you put an MS, next to a powerful commercial on-premise buyer and a wine director who is involved on the floor on a day-to-day basis, you get a very powerful panel of judges in each team”, says Sid Patel, CEO and Founder of Beverage Trade Network.

As per the Master Sommelier’s website, there are 168 professionals who have earned the title of Master Sommelier as part of the Americas chapter since the organization’s inception. 14 of them will be judging the 2024 Sommeliers Choice Awards.

Each wine score is an average of a minimum of 3 judges on each panel and one of them is an MS. For a wine to win a special category in the Sommeliers Choice Awards, it really has to impress everyone on the panel.

What judges had to say about Sommeliers Choice Awards. 

What is great about sommelier's choice awards is that we are picking wines that are in distribution, that work for restaurant budgets, that work for restaurant situations, not necessarily for the collectors of the world, or for people who are trying to flip these wines over. This is purely about that restaurant experience something consumers look for, you go out for a Tuesday night or to celebrate an anniversary - these wines are geared towards those situations and that dining experience and I think that's really powerful - Michael Meagher MS 

The thing that I like the most about the Sommeliers Choice Awards is the intention behind it. There are so many different types of competitions and judging these days to certify and sometimes that can become confusing for end consumers. So what I like about this is you get a very core group of judges in a room that a winery can go to the trade and say 'Hey your peers are the ones who rated this wine' as opposed to some other people your buyers may not know. If I were a trade buyer and I was told the wines were judged by master sommeliers and these sommeliers, I would trust that score in the buying process more. - Jon McDaniel - Award-winning sommelier and Head of Wine Education at Scout & Cellar.

This judging is very different, what I like about it is that you can see all the wines after the blind scoring part is done. It's a really good round picture of the judging. This also allows us to make sure that the packaging is not deceiving and that the wines show the character displayed on their package. Sharyn Kervyn, CSW, Wine Director, Capital Grille.

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Here are some of the judges who will participate in the 2024 Sommeliers Choice Awards.

WAYNE BELDING MS, Master Sommelier and Partner at Preferably, Colorado

PETER GRANOFF MS, Master Sommelier, Wine Educator, Speaker, Entrepreneur, San Francisco

BRIAN KOZIOL MS, Master Sommelier at Maverick Beverage Company, Chicago

RACHEL LOWE, Director of Beverage for Levy Restaurants.

ALEXANDER POWELL MS, Master Sommelier and Senior Wine Manager at Grill 23 & Bar, Boston

LISA SELMAN CSS, Alchemy Room Beverage Director

KYUNGMOON KIM MS, Master Sommelier

VINCENT MORROW MS, Master Sommelier and Wine Director at PRESS Napa Valley, San Francisco

BRANDON TEBBE, MS, Master Sommelier

SERAFIN ALVARADO MSm Master Sommelier and Director of Wine Education at Southern Wine & Spirits

SCOTT BARBER, President at Green Pin Wines

LARISSA C DUBOSE, National Director Beverages- Dining Division at Paradies Lagardère and Wine Enthusiast Magazine Future 40, Vino Volo National Buyer

BRANDON BIERLEIN, Director of Food & Beverage, Talbott Hotel Chicago

GUILLERMO BRAVO, Beverage Director at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Chicago

ALLISON CURATOLO, Wine Director RPM Italian Las Vegas

ANIKA ELLISON, Wine Manager, Swift & Sons Steakhouse, Chicago

KRISTIN FRANCESCO, Sommelier at Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, Chicago

JAMIE HARRISON RUBIN, Procurement & Placements at Culinary Conservatory

COLIN HOFER, General Manager of Restaurants, Four Seasons Chicago

JENNIFER KNOTT, Director of Beverage for Levy at Chicago Symphony Orchestra

JOSH KING, Director of Food and Beverage, Virgin Hotels, Chicago

JOHN MARAFFA, Corporate Beverage Manager, Morton's The Steakhouse | Strip House Steakhouse & Cocktail Lounge | Morton's Grille

JON MCDANIEL, Founder & CEO of Ottantadu

TIFFANY TOBEY, Owner and Sommelier, Tiffany's Toast, Dallas, Texas

View the full panel of the 2024 Sommeliers Choice Awards judges here.

To explore the possibilities and showcase your wines to America's top sommeliers, here’s all the information you need to enter your wines before the January 31, 2024, early bird deadline.