The Challenge was chaired by international wine expert Robert Joseph and judged by a distinguished jury of international and Indian tasters that included John Forester from New Zealand, Roberto Bava from Italy, Gina Gallo from California, Vanya Cullen and John Quarisa from Australia along with Subhash Arora, of the Indian Wine Academy, Magandeep Singh, sommelier and TV wine journalist, and Alok Chandra, wine consultant.
Pictured above are the judges of the India Wine Challenge.
The wines were judged "blind" or anonymously and their country of origin was not known to the tasters. Only 185 medals and 129 seals of approval were awarded, of which 31 were won by Indian wines. Leading the winning wines were: Spy Valley Gewerztraminer 2008 from New Zealand (Best White), Shaw & Smith Shiraz 2006 from Australia (Best Red Wine) and Devaux Cuvee 'D' Brut Champagne(Best Sparkling).
Robert Joseph said that he believed the future was bright for the Indian wine industry especially if it paid heed to the recommendations of the tasters in their discussions with local winemakers. Joseph will be making presentations at the IFE exhibition in Delhi on December 2-4, 2008.
View or download the complete list of winners. Check out last year's results. And more on the India Wine Challenge 2008 is available here.
Comments
Thank you for broadcasting the results of the India Wine Challenge so promptly. I was particularly interested in hearing Robert Joseph speak, a veteran of so many prestigious wine challenges. There seemed to be some disturbance however at the end. Perhaps it was a technical glitch or just my computer. Nonetheless, it was great to get Robert Joseph's comments so soon after the news was released!
The results of the India Wine Challenge are very interesting. But I do not understand why the Indian wines weren't separated out like last year. Which was the best Indian wine of the year? Last year it was Nine Hills. Also, the India Wine Challenge team should share a list of all the participants. Did Nine Hills and Grover even participate this year?