August 21: Judging for the India Wine Awards chaired by Sonal Holland MW takes place on September 12 an 13 at the Leela Palace
The Awards will be announced at an event hosted by the Leela Palace on October 5, 2019. It will bring together luminaries from India’s wine and food & beverage industries and will showcase award-winning wines across multiple categories. Since its inaugural edition in 2017, India Wine Awards serves as a benchmark for best Indian and international wines available in the country.
India Wine Awards is the only competition in the country featuring a unique food and wine pairing section, where nominated wines are paired with food to judge their compatibility. This year, six dishes from across European, Asian and Indian cuisine, that are considered the most popular amongst diners in India, have been identified for the food and wine pairing section.
Best Wine pairing with Sushi with choice of vegetarian and non-vegetarian (Japanese), Best Wine pairing with Kung Pao Chicken (Chinese), Best Wine pairing with Pizza (Italian), Best Wine pairing with Haleem-lamb mince delicacy (Indian) and Best Wine pairing with Thai Green Curry (Thai) have been the star matches besides the Dessert which is Best Wine pairing with Chocolate (dark and milk).
All wines entered in the competition will be tasted blind and scored by a panel of 18 wine experts and heads of hospitality, chaired by Sonal Holland MW. ‘This first-of-its-kind event stands committed to introducing more consumers to wine and to strengthening India’s reputation on the global wine map,’ says Sonal.
This year again, the panel includes a formidable team of India’s most eminent wine palates, leaders of hospitality, and key wine and food media professionals for the 2019 India Wine Awards wine-tasting competition. Besides Sonal as the Chairperson, there are Parveen Chander - Taj Lands’ End, Taljinder Singh – The Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai, Sanjay Sethi of Chalet Hotels, Dietmar Kielnhofer – JW Marriott Sahar, Abhisek Basu – Leela Mumbai as hoteliers in the panel. Ashish Dev Kapur of Wine Rack and celebrity chef Rahul Akerkar of Qualia represent the restaurant industry. Harish Acharekar, Abhas Saxena, Lalit Rane and Prateek Angre represent the Sommelier community whereas senior wine writers such as Subhash Arora, Alok Chandra and Ruma Singh and senior members of media including Namrata Zakaria of Mumbai Mirror and Smitha Menon of Condé Nast Traveler join the panel s as special invitee judges.
Some key features this year include Excellence in Restaurant Wine Programs. A special category of awards across Hotels and premium Stand-Alone Restaurants located in the three major consumption centres of Mumbai, Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru will include wine lists, and wine initiatives including training programs and events in a category of awards including World-class Wine Destination.
To build a strong foundation for Excellence in Restaurant Wine Programs at Hotels and Premium Stand-Alone Restaurants, for the first time in any Indian wine competition an independent panel of three international MWs, including Sonal Holland MW has been formed and includes Andrea Pritzker MW (Australia) and Sarah Heller MW (Hong Kong).
The results will be announced at the Winners’ Night Award Ceremony at The Leela Mumbai on October 5, 2019. The Awards will be attended by invite-only wine-loving guests, senior members of the media, leaders of hospitality, indigenous wine producers, importers and distributors of international wines; and luminaries of the hotel and food & beverage industry.
For related earlier Articles, please visit:
The Eminent Jury Members for the 2018 India Wine Awards
India Wine Awards a Glittering Affair at Leela Mumbai
Second Indian Wine Awards 2018 on September 29 at Leela Mumbai
India Wine Awards 2017: Food n Wine Match Talk of Tinsel Town
Medals Galore at India Wine Awards at Sofitel
India Wine Awards to feature unique Food and Wine Match
Subhash Arora
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