The 3rd Annual Argentina Wine Awards 2009
Sheraton Hotel, Mendoza Argentina
February 22nd - 26th 2009

In a few weeks the 3rd Annual Argentina Wine Awards, the country's most prestigious wine competition, will be held in Mendoza City at the newly opened 5 Stars Sheraton Hotel.

A panel of 12 international wine experts from Argentina's four largest export markets, alongside eight of the finest homegrown winemakers and vineyard managers, will be present at the competition. Amongst the 20 strong judging panel will be the likes of Leslie Sbrocco, Andrea Robinson and Lyn Farmer from the United States, Tim Atkin MW (UK), Anthony Gismondi (Canada) and Jorge Lucki (Brazil) they will go through three intensive days of tastings, analysis and debate of some 500+ wines from over 100 of Argentina's leading wineries (full list of judges, biographies and photographs available upon request).

"The Argentina Wine Awards has quickly become an iconic event in our country's wine calendar," comments Susana Balbo (Wines of Argentina's President)." It's much more than just a competition. It's an organized activity for education, debate and for the enrichment of the industry. Each year our organization grows together with the quality of our wines".

The format is one of a double blind tasting using a 20 point marking scale with the wines organized into flights defined by grape variety and price. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded accordingly.

On the final day, the judges will each speak at a seminar entitled "Successful Wines and Successful Wine Styles" covering the issues as they relate to their respective countries. They will illustrate their points of view with a tasting of wines from around the world specially imported for the event.

An audience of over 300 of Argentina's key industry figures is expected to attend.
The AWA culminates in an awards ceremony and cocktail party on the evening of the 26th in which the full results will be released and the Trophies presented to the successful wineries.