Seattle Wine Awards - About Us
What makes the Seattle Wine Awards so prestigious?
The wines, of course! The wines that earn recognition in the Seattle Wine Awards must achieve tasting panel consensus where they earn one of the following awards ~ Double Gold, Gold, Silver and Bronze Grand Awards of Excellence in their respective price/wine categories. The wines that do not receive a Medal of Excellence, earn our Vintner’s Honor ~ Outstanding Washington Wine Award. This means we recognize the Washington wines that are truly outstanding!
Who is on our Tasting Panel?
Seattle’s most prominent wine professionals are represented on our Tasting Panel. These are respected Wine Directors, Buyers, Distributors, Educators and Seattle’s top Sommeliers who know what Washington wine is all about. Our panel tastes wine single-blind (meaning they know only the varietal and not the price nor producer). Please visit our Tasting Panel page to learn more.
How are the wines evaluated?
Our experienced Tasting Panel employs a modified 20-point system to score each wine.
Wines are reviewed in flights that reflect the same price and varietal. Each wine is tasted and considered on the following criteria:
Color / Aroma / Flavor & Palate / Balance / Finish / Overall Impression
Grand Awards Tasting
We’re offering wine consumers and connoisseurs a chance to sip, sample and celebrate award winning wines at the Grand Awards Tasting, returning in 2012. Check the Grand Awards Tasting page for ticket information.
Thank you for visiting.
We hope you will browse our site to learn more about our history, our tasting panel and past award winners. Please share us with a fellow wine friend!
Washington State's most prestigious wine recognition program
The Seattle Wine Awards is the largest and most comprehensive independent Washington wine recognition program. Founded in 2006 by Executive Director Christopher Chan, the Seattle Wine Awards maintains the highest standards of integrity in the tasting and evaluation of Washington wines.