Competition entrants will now receive access to a comprehensive On-Premise Buyer Intelligence Report, built from insights gathered directly from master sommeliers, wine directors, beverage managers, restaurant buyers, and hospitality professionals judging the competition.

The Sommeliers Choice Awards is introducing a valuable new entrant benefit with the launch of the Sommeliers Choice Awards On-Premise Buyer Intelligence Report—an exclusive annual report compiled from surveys completed by the competition's judges during the judging process.

The report goes beyond medals and scores to provide wineries with practical commercial insight into what restaurants, hotels, wine bars, and hospitality buyers are looking to list, pour, and recommend.

Every Sommeliers Choice Awards entrant will receive complimentary access to the report as part of their entry.

Market Intelligence From The People Who Build Wine Lists

Unlike traditional market reports, the On-Premise Buyer Intelligence Report is built from the opinions and purchasing priorities of professionals who create wine programs and make buying decisions every day.

The Sommeliers Choice Awards judging panels include Master Sommeliers, wine directors, beverage directors, restaurant buyers, head sommeliers, hospitality consultants, and luxury hotel beverage professionals. Alongside evaluating wines, judges complete a short buyer survey covering current purchasing behaviour, wine list trends, pricing, by-the-glass programs, sustainability, and emerging opportunities in the on-premise sector.

The result is a report that reflects the real priorities of the people responsible for selecting wines that appear on restaurant and hotel wine lists.

What The Report Covers

The On-Premise Buyer Intelligence Report includes insights across a wide range of commercial topics, including:

- The top purchasing factors when selecting wines for restaurant wine lists
- Fastest-growing wine styles and categories in the on-premise sector
- By-the-glass and by-the-bottle trends
- Preferred wholesale and restaurant price points
- Packaging and presentation preferences
- Categories sommeliers are actively seeking to add
- Wine styles restaurants are reducing or removing
- Food pairing and menu trends influencing buying decisions
- Sustainability and producer practices that influence purchasing
- The biggest opportunities for wineries looking to grow restaurant distribution

Rather than relying on general market reports, wineries receive current intelligence gathered directly from professionals building wine lists across restaurants, hotels, resorts, and hospitality venues.

Supporting Better On-Premise Sales Decisions

The Sommeliers Choice Awards was created to recognise wines that perform successfully in restaurants and hospitality environments. The addition of the On-Premise Buyer Intelligence Report further strengthens that mission by helping producers understand exactly what influences restaurant buying decisions.

Whether developing wines for by-the-glass programs, refining pricing, improving packaging, or expanding into hospitality channels, entrants gain practical insight from the professionals who decide which wines guests ultimately see on a wine list.

More Than A Medal

The On-Premise Buyer Intelligence Report joins a growing range of value-added benefits available to Sommeliers Choice Awards entrants.

Alongside detailed score breakdowns, expanded judge feedback, commercial recommendations, channel insights, recommended service format (By the Glass or By the Bottle), and increased judging transparency, the report provides wineries with actionable intelligence that extends well beyond competition recognition.

It helps producers understand not only how their wines performed during judging, but where they are most likely to succeed commercially within the hospitality industry.

Built From Sommelier Expertise

Each survey is completed anonymously by judges participating in the Sommeliers Choice Awards. Individual responses remain confidential and are aggregated into an annual industry report available exclusively to competition entrants.

The report is designed to become one of the wine industry's most valuable on-premise intelligence resources, helping wineries better understand the evolving priorities of restaurants, hotels, wine bars, and hospitality buyers.

As the Sommeliers Choice Awards continues to evolve, its mission remains unchanged: to help wineries create wines that succeed where it matters most—in restaurants, hotels, and hospitality venues.

Entries for the next edition of the Sommeliers Choice Awards are now open. Every entrant will receive access to the exclusive On-Premise Buyer Intelligence Report alongside their competition results, providing producers with both industry recognition and actionable insight from the sommeliers, wine directors, and beverage buyers who influence wine purchasing decisions every day.

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