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 The details of the competition are not known except that it seems to be the debut year for the Sauvignon Blanc Global Masters in which about 200 samples were submitted. Looking at another category of Cabernet Sauvignon Masters 2014 a few months ago, where only one of the wines submitted came from Bordeaux, 141 were medal-winners, with 83 walking away with a bronze, 41 awarded silver and 14 qualifying for the Gold.
Four Seasons deserves kudos for the achievement (even though the Gold has been elusive to them since they started taking part in various international competitions) as the judging standards are extremely high with the judging panels comprising of Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers and mostly senior buyers. The explanation for this strategy could be that the buyers understand the palate of their consumers. Usually 8-10 wine experts reportedly judge about 200 wines in a day.
But the business model of the competition does bring back some unsavoury memories of 2008 when Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards was caught unaware by awarding 'one glass' award to a fictitious restaurant and then coaxing it to shell out $3090 for 1/8 page colour ad-with all the mails exchanged over the internet. For a report in delWine, please visit WS gives Real Award to Fake Restaurant
The Sauvignon Blanc judging will be featured in the November issue of the Drinks Business and in a subsequent issue of their sister publication. The winners are advised to advertise in this Award Winning Wines and Spirit Special with a ‘Special’ Global Masters rate of £2,500 (Rs. 250,000) for a full page or £1,500 for a half page ad to 'shout about their success'.
Considering that they receive about 200 entries at £140 a sample, an Ad for £2500 would fetch them an equivalent of 17-18 entries without much extra cost. An enquiry to the Marketing Director about the competition and the results, especially from the Indian standpoint, evoked no response till the time of publishing the article.
The magazine has apparently started the Global Masters Competition for various varietals during the last couple of years. One could enter a Sauvignon Blanc or a Chardonnay or a Riesling for this year’s ‘Master’ last month where a separate entry fee of £140 was charged for each sample. There are similar ones for Cabernet or even Rose and a Green Award. It appears to be the magazine’s business strategy to increasing the judging for as many possible varietals or segments as possible to make the process economically viable in the long term.
 According to their website, each tasting identifies the best examples of its chosen grape variety from all around the world in every price range. Unlike other international competitions, the Global Masters series is judged by grape variety rather than country. Every wine is measured on the taste of its grape and the skill of its winemaker. All Global Masters are judged blind and the best competing wines are awarded medals from Bronze, Silver or Gold, and ultimately a Master for exceptional wines.
There are several other categories like Pinot Category, Champagne, and Rioja Masters, Fortified wines and even a Green Award. For the last 11 years they have been conducting the dB Award which is given to an exceptional individual or a corporation and is well recognised globally. Who knows, there might be even an India Masters one day, if there is enough response from the domestic producers?
For more information and the overall results when announced, especially to know how many Indian wines have won a medal, please visit http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com or contact Chloé Beral on email on chloe@thedrinksbusiness.com.
Incidentally, the company had announced a couple of years ago that the Ritu label would be introduced in the domestic market too but possibly due to the imminent buy out of Vijay Mallya's USL group by Diageo, the decision was possibly postponed. An upbeat Abhay Kewadkar, the Business Head of Four Seasons since inception, says he is delighted with the award and also confirms that Project Ritu will soon be unveiled in India soon.
Tags: Ritu Sauvignon Blanc, Four Seasons, Sauvignon Blanc Global Masters Competition, Drinks Business |