After yet another successful year, the Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) has opened the entries for its 2021 edition
The Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) has always been one of the first competitions in the trade calendar, meaning it's the first to reveal trends for the coming months to the drinks industry.
But in 2020 the timing of the competition had even more advantages, as it became one of the few drinks competitions lucky enough to go ahead. Indeed, the UK was advised by the government to stay at home four days after the final samples were tasted by the judges, and just a week later, the country went into lockdown.
As always, many trends emerged from the 2020 competition, including standout entries within the orange wine category, as well as Japanese wines taking home medals for every Koshu entry, and not forgetting the record year Ribera del Duero had with 80% of entrants winning awards.
With 35% of on-trade professionals revealing they will be reducing their product range as a result of the damages caused by the global pandemic, SWA has become a lifeline for many of its 2020 winners. As the UK’s only wine competition focused entirely on the on-trade, SWA remains a snapshot of the best wines available to the UK restaurants, bistros, bars and hotels.
Interested merchants and producers can enter their wines at sommelierwineawards.com
