Hong Kong wine contests | Your time is up Cathay Pacific, Decanter & CWSA!

By Jim Boyce | Hong Kong has major annual wine contests such as the wordy Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition (HKIWSC), the surprisingly resilient and influential China Wine & Spirits Awards and the spin-off Decanter Asia Wine Awards.

But they are about to be left in the terroir dust if the organizers of the newest contest—or is it two?—are true.

Wine Luxe International Awards & China Wine Challenge is being organized by Wine Luxe, self-described as, well, let’s do some cut and paste:

“… The Most Influential and Important Wine Magazine in Hong Kong as well as in Greater China, WINE.Luxe decided to establish a new standard of Wine Rating for Greater China Market — Wine.Luxe International Awards & China Wine Challenge. The Goal of Wine. Luxe International Awards & China Wine Challenge is to provide a standard of excellence to allow Greater China Wine Consumers to taste/buy with confidence wines that have been judged by a combined panel of international wine professionals to be best suited for the market and palate. With a 100 Points Rating System, consumers in the Greater China market can be easily understand and find out the most suitable wines & spirits for enjoyment as well as to pair with local cuisines. The Wine.Luxe International Awards & China Wine Challenge will be held in 27 to 29 July 2016 at W Hotel Hong Kong.”

“Most Influential.” “[Most] important.” “New standard.”

There’s more, too, with the event described as  “benchmarking Wine Awards in Greater China” and having “a core of over 50 professional tasters who can easily hold their own with the best of their counterparts internationally.”

So, heads up, Hong Kong wine elites, you might soon have a new leader. Or, as already mentioned, two leaders, since it looks like a pair of contests are being made into one, like a blend of, say, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot:

Anyway, here are some features of the WLIACWC:

• The co-organizer is the Japan Wine Challenge, a contest led by Ronald Brown, who has also been organizing the annual China Wine Challenge and seems the key link here. (See here and here for background. I emailed Brown and will update if I hear anything back.) Listed supporters include the Hong Kong Sommelier Association and Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce.
• The contest is set for July 27 to July 29 at W Hotel in Hong Kong, with the awards ceremony, a road show, and other follow-up actions coming much later.
• Wines will be scored out of 100 points and eligible for awards that include gold (90 or more points), silver (80 to 89 points), bronze (70 to 79 points) and ‘seal of approval’ (60 to 69 points). Gold medal winners qualify for the trophy round. (Doesn’t look like the “new standard” concerns scoring as this is typical stuff.)
• Want to enter a wine? You need to fill out a registration form and, once accepted, provide six bottles of said wine and a USD200 fee. (Plus USD15 for bank handling charges.) But it’s too late for this year as the deadline was July 1.

I’ll update if I learn more about this contest.

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