> Why take part?

An undeniable marketing advantage

Winning a medal at the Bordeaux Wine Awards is, in such an ever increasingly competitive market, to have a substantial advantage with negotiators, wholesalers, wine merchants, restaurant owners, individual clients......

This is evident when it comes to exporting wine, with countries such as Japan and Germany in particular being very fond of awards. It is equally true in France where 80% of wine sold today is from supermarkets, where it can be difficult to choose from an overwhelming selection. The medal represents a certain standard for buyers, looking for a way to choose a good wine.

According to a survey by medal-winning producers, prize-winning wines from the Bordeaux Wine Awards sell the best. They often sell the quickest, even the more expensive ones. But why? Because the Bordeaux Wine Awards is renowned for its professionalism and the reliability of its results.

Extensively promoted wines

The Department of Agriculture of the Gironde region and the Agricultural Exhibition of Aquitaine, organisers of the Bordeaux Wine Awards – Wines of Aquitaine, have a communication system to ensure the promotion of medal-winning wines. The plan combines press releases for good media coverage of the event, participation in the Awards at the Agricultural Exhibition of Aquitaine, development of the website, initiatives for broad circulation....... It gives the Bordeaux Wine Awards a great reputation among buyers and consumers, a strong image of professionalism and reliability.

No fraud

The Bordeaux Wine Awards, approved by the Minister for Agriculture and organised by the Gironde Department of Agriculture, has developed different procedures to prevent all attempts at fraud:

• The candidate wines are not sent to the organisation, but are preselected directly at the château. This method allows us to ensure that the wine put forward by the producer is indeed the wine that will be tasted on the day of the competitions. It also lets us check the volume !
• So that the results remain impartial, the tasting is done as a blind test. The bottles have, obviously, no means of identification. They carry an identification number, the appellation and the vintage. It is therefore impossible for the taster to know the producer ! Wines from producers and wines from merchants are not separated on the tables. A member of the jury who is also a vintner does not judge his own wines.
• The General Directorate for Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control is fully authorized to inspect prize-winning wines at any given moment.
• A numbering system permits the inspection of medal stickers on the bottles, preventing a non-prize-winning wine being given a medal from the wine awards.

A certified competition

The Bordeaux Wine Awards are ISO 9001 certified – version 2000 for its organisation, efficient and highly capable judging by an independent certifying body. This recognition emphasizes and rewards the professionalism of the organisation. It guarantees that all candidate producers’ expectations are carefully taken into consideration. A survey taken in 2007 by medal-winners showed their complete satisfaction, whether it was about the registration, sampling, contact with the organisation: over 90% of participants gave an exceptionally favourable reaction! To know more about the certification...

An organisation committed to sustainable development

Since 2006, the Bordeaux Wine Awards – Wines of Aquitaine has been 100% committed to sustainable development. Everything is considered so as to limit the impact on the environment, combining social and economic responsibilities ; sorting waste, reducing the use of paper to a strict minimum, selecting suppliers within the region, partnerships with associations and much more. To know more about eco-commitment...

A contribution to the vitality of the domain

Wine tasting at the Bordeaux Wine Awards also means to contribute, in one’s own way, to the vitality of the Aquitaine wine sector across the world ! All efforts put into the ’medal hunt’ boosts the entire regional production.

The Bordeaux Wine Awards – Wines of Aquitaine promotes your work, the work of men and women who put all their energy into producing high quality wine. They in turn contribute to sustaining the economy and know-how unique to the rest of the world.