How the Asian Wine Review is Judged:

 

1. What wines are eligible for the 2019 review?

More than 200 wines from over 50 different Asian wineries were blind tasted for the 2019 edition of the Asian Wine Review. Only wines produced and vinified in the greater region of Asia are allowed to enter the competition.

 

2. Where did the wines for the AWR come from?

Samples were submitted directly by the wineries. The wineries in this year’s edition are spread across twelve Asian nations: Armenia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Taiwan and Thailand.

 

3. Who reviewed the AWR submissions?

The selection of this year’s panel took into account key representation from an all-encompassing perspective of the wine industry. Leaders in the wine industry from on-premise, media and production were equally represented.

 

4. Where did we review the wines?

The tasting took place under controlled conditions to eliminate bias. Wines were presented at optimum temperatures following careful storage.

 

5. Why a strictly blind tasting?

Asia as a whole, already battles misconceptions of its wine offerings. The aim to assist consumers and fellow wine trade workers in confidently identifying the best wines produced in Asia. Therefore, our judges adhere to blind tasting rules to uphold this value. Winery names and regions are not revealed, so that price nor the reputation of the winery has any influence on ratings or evaluation.

 

6. How were the wines tasted?

The wines were arranged by category: sparkling, white, rosé, red and sweet. Within each category they were then arranged by varietal. Each varietal was arranged by sugar content and percentage of alcohol (based on provided technical information). Judges were split into two groups, with an appointed Panel Chair. Group discussion was encouraged so that group members came to a unanimous score per wine as recorded by the Panel Chair.