What happens in the 22 days before 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls

What happens in the 22 days before 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls

Registrations have closed for the blind wine tasting organized by Veronafiere with the support of Assoenologi. Now what? Wine samples are being anonymized for tasting which will be carried out by more than 80 international experts. The Selection culminates with the publication of the annual guide, both paper and digital, containing all the wines that obtain the highest scores. The Guide is then shared with the Vinitaly community; the wines will go on to gain visibility on the new Vinitaly Plus platform as well. Social Media posts are created by the 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls team for every single selected bottle, carrying the public relations buzz around 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls wines throughout the year.

Registrations have closed for the blind wine tasting organized by Veronafiere with the support of Assoenologi. Now what? Wine samples are being anonymized for tasting which will be carried out by more than 80 international experts. The Selection culminates with the publication of the annual guide, both paper and digital, containing all the wines that obtain the highest scores. The Guide is then shared with the Vinitaly community; the wines will go on to gain visibility on the new Vinitaly Plus platform as well. Social Media posts are created by the 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls team for every single selected bottle, carrying the public relations buzz around 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls wines throughout the year.

Last year, this was the point where we had to roll up our sleeves. From the moment that registered wine samples got to our warehouses, our staff were tasked with putting each bottle in blue bags to anonymize and ready them for tasting. While this already takes quite a lot of time, last year, after tailored planning and registration, due to the inability of the judges to reach Verona for the tasting, we also had to pack and ship each bottle to each individual judge – it was a mammoth undertaking.

This year, even though the judges have been permitted to travel to Verona, we cannot state that things have gone back to “normal”. The last edition before the pandemic was in April 2019 and things were very different. Judges would taste and score each wine seated around a table of 6, being able to have an open session. In this edition, the staff will prepare the tasting rooms following specific safety protocols: each judge will be seated at their own table but grouped in sets of 5, to allow consultation amongst the jury – things maybe a little louder than usual!

After the first round of tasting, all the wines that receive a score equal or higher than 90 are to be re-tasted by the General Chairmen, further discussing its final score. As the last wine receives its final score, results will be published online through the registration platform and producers will be notified. Wines with higher scores in each category will be awarded the “Trophy” title.

While we patiently count the days until the beginning of this year’s edition of 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls, we are using our social media platforms (@5StarWines) to introduce all the judges joining us in Verona, helping you to get to know each of them better; posting video messages by them as well. Follow us to stay up to date on this year’s edition of the tasting!

 

In this edition, the staff will prepare the tasting rooms following specific safety protocols: each judge will be seated at their own table but grouped in sets of 5, to allow consultation amongst the jury – things may be a little louder than usual!

About: 5StarWines – the Book is the annual wine selection organized by Veronafiere, held in the lead-up to the biggest Italian wine fair in the world. The event is now in its fifth edition. 5StarWines – the Book is a blind tasting aimed at shedding light on wineries investing in the improvement of their products. During the event, a highly qualified panel of wine professionals will taste and score—using a 100-point scale—participating wines. In this edition, over 2000 bottles took part in the competition and 847 were selected for inclusion in 5StarWines – the Book. The Guide is a useful tool both on the promotional and commercial side. It introduces international buyers and wine lovers to new wine products of great value. It guarantees wine quality and it maintains and certifies their value at an international level.

Last call for producers: registration for 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls are closing soon

Last call for producers: registration for 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls are closing soon

As more than 80 international judges are getting ready to finally physically come back to Verona to attend 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls – from June 16th to 18th, 2021, producers are sending in their registered wines for the anonymization process to begin. May 20th will be the last day to register for Veronafiere’s blind wine tasting, while the final date to send in registered wines is set for May 24th.

“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.” This famous quote from the well-loved movie Forrest Gump can be applied to more than just the metaphor of life. Take 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls for example, the annual blind wine tasting organized by Veronafiere, much like a box of unlabeled wrapped chocolates, the wines will also be covered up, hidden to mask which bottles are being tasted by a selection of international wine experts chosen for their contrasted backgrounds. Each time a wine is tasted, the judges will be unwrapping the scents, flavors and personal stories held within each bottle. Layers of experience culminated in a finished product, spread open for the world to see.

To have their wines tasted, producers will have to register on the 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls platform https://www.5starwines.it/apply-now/?lang=en by May 20th, 2021.

Selected wines will not only have tailored tasting notes, but they will also receive a diploma displaying their score, and will be featured on the “Critics” section on the biggest wine dedicated searching engine Wine Searcher https://www.wine-searcher.com/ moreover, their scores will be published in the wine guide that takes its name from the selection. “5StarWines – the Book” – this as well as a multitude of communication tools will also be provided to producers of selected wines, to help them spread the word regarding their results.

Each time a wine is tasted, the judges will be unwrapping the scents, flavors and personal stories held within each bottle. Layers of experience culminated in a finished product, spread open for the world to see.

About: 5StarWines – the Book is the annual wine selection organized by Veronafiere, held in the lead-up to the biggest Italian wine fair in the world. The event is now in its fifth edition. 5StarWines – the Book is a blind tasting aimed at shedding light on wineries investing in the improvement of their products. During the event, a highly qualified panel of wine professionals will taste and score—using a 100-point scale—participating wines. In this edition, over 2000 bottles took part in the competition and 847 were selected for inclusion in 5StarWines – the Book. The Guide is a useful tool both on the promotional and commercial side. It introduces international buyers and wine lovers to new wine products of great value. It guarantees wine quality and it maintains and certifies their value at an international level.

5StarWines & Wine Without Walls sees a glimmer of hope thanks to safety protocols that allows an in-person Selection once more

5StarWines & Wine Without Walls sees a glimmer of hope thanks to safety protocols that allows an in-person Selection once more

After one year of a virtual selection, 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls, the blind wine tasting organized by Veronafiere, will return to Verona in-person. Rules of the blind tasting remain as rigorous, as do the newly implemented protocols to maintain safety due to the pandemic.

As always, the selection is led by an international team of highly qualified wine professionals. Henry Davar, Thomas Curtius MW, Francesco Marchio, Brandon Tebbe MS, Richard Kershaw MW, Isao Miyajima, JC Viens, Jinglin Zhang, Sue Tolson, Vincenzo Donatiello, Paul Caputo, Irving So, Hayley Black and Niklas Bergqvist will guide the selection as the Panel Chairmen of the fifth edition of 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls, and will be present in Verona, Italy to taste and score the registered wines from June 16th to June 18th, 2021.

This edition is going to be special for everyone taking part in the tasting both because the exceptional safety protocols put in place will allow them to return to travelling and tasting wine together. As always, this selection brings together the diverse profiles and international palates of the judges, who are aided in promoting their selection by a range of cutting-edge communication tools that facilitate the announcement of the results. However, this year there is an added value to the event: the social factor.

No more screens, no more poor connections: the judges will be able to travel to Verona and be together. Nothing is quite back to normal: the tasting will be taking place in 2 rooms with a maximum capacity of 60 people in each, and every judge will have his/her own table arranged in a semicircle to make up Panels of 5 judges. This is very different from prior years, where each panel would be at the same table. But, it is a welcome step towards bringing judges and wines back together in the same place once more.

One year ago, who would imagine we would be able to receive judges from the U.S. together with judges from all over the world! On the basis of the legislation currently in force, judges will be able to reach Italy without the obligation of quarantine, staying for a maximum of 120 hours. It is going to be different, presenting once more a challenge for all involved. However, it will be worth the hard work to to give us a glimmer of life how we remember it and to continue bringing about 5Star Wines and Wine without Walls and promoting the Selection once more.

 

New features include the revamped registration platform, where producers will be able to check the results autonomously and have access to their personal page to view outcomes and download prompts to promote the scores.

About: 5StarWines – the Book is the annual wine selection organized by Veronafiere, held in the lead-up to the biggest Italian wine fair in the world. The event is now in its fifth edition. 5StarWines – the Book is a blind tasting aimed at shedding light on wineries investing in the improvement of their products. During the event, a highly qualified panel of wine professionals will taste and score—using a 100-point scale—participating wines. In this edition, over 2000 bottles took part in the competition and 847 were selected for inclusion in 5StarWines – the Book. The Guide is a useful tool both on the promotional and commercial side. It introduces international buyers and wine lovers to new wine products of great value. It guarantees wine quality and it maintains and certifies their value at an international level.