Every year, our buyers put a huge range of wines through their paces under blind-tasting conditions, scoring the standouts, with only the very best of the best for drinking now, our Wine Champions, making the final cut. This huge exercise has been a cornerstone of The Wine Society’s calendar for more than a quarter of a century. Its enduring popularity is testament to two things we’re very lucky to have: the trust of our members and an expert team of buyers.
With only broad categories and price brackets available to our buyers, their focus during the tastings is entirely on what’s in the bottle, not what’s on it. And with a very high scoring threshold for victory, every single Wine Champion earns its place for being truly showstopping, whatever its category or price.
No other merchant does anything quite like this; certainly not on this scale. Across three intensive weeks of thrills and spills (both literally), which see our globetrotting buyers’ diaries blanked out to taste through the wines, I’ve continued to be blown away by the scale and the rigour involved in putting Wine Champions selection together. It’s a huge job involving multiple teams across the business to organise.
But it’s worth it when you see the results, and how enthusiastically our members embrace them. It’s a cheat code for finding the cream of the crop, knowing that – whether an anyday gem or a showstopping fine wine – it’ll be absolutely delicious.
