San Francisco, California, November 16, 2020 - Clandestine received a Gold medal from a panel of high-profile wine industry judges. Clandestine scored highly in three different categories - Quality, Value and Packaging - in order to take home a medal in competition. Winning a Gold medal at the USA Wine Ratings Competition is the ultimate seal of approval, showing that Clandestine is a high-quality wine with broad consumer appeal.
One of the guiding principles of the USA Wine Ratings competition is that all wines that receive medals in competition should be those that consumers actually want to buy, whether it is shopping for a wine at a retail wine store, or ordering a wine off a restaurant wine list. As a result, the USA Wine Ratings competition has created an entirely new 100-point rating system that takes into account three different criteria (Quality, Value and Packaging) rather than just winemaking technique or overall taste.
In order to receive a Gold medal, a wine needed to score at least 90 points.
“We’re really excited that our Clandestine scored so highly on the various factors that determine the drinkability of a wine,” said Lien Nguyen, Founder of Clandestine Wines. “We really put a lot of emphasis on creating a wine with broad consumer appeal, and one that wine drinkers will enjoy for a variety of different occasions. This award is really a validation of our efforts over the last few years.”
Sid Patel, CEO and Founder of Beverage Trade Network, emphasized the importance of finding wines that score highly across all three categories rather than just one, “We feel that it offers a broad, comprehensive approach to evaluating wines the same way that consumers and trade buyers do.”
“Increasingly, consumers are thinking of wines as brands, just like they would any other product they find in a supermarket,” said Patel. “That’s why it was so important to include Packaging & Presentation as key judging criteria - it means that the wine is being created with a specific type of customer or demographic in mind.”
The judging panel included wine industry professionals with commercial buying expertise, Master Sommeliers and Masters of Wine. The inclusion of so many high-profile judges ensured that wines awarded medals in competition were those with a high degree of commercial appeal.
2015 Clandestine Wines rated 91 Points in the USA Wines Rating Competition.
About Clandestine Wines
Clandestine Wines produces high-quality single-AVA Cabernet Sauvignon exclusively from Napa Valley. The 2015 vintage is just the brand’s third release and is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Calistoga American Viticultural Area (AVA). For more information and wine availability, please visit www.clandestinewines.com.
About USA Wine Ratings
The 3rd Annual USA Wine Ratings competition took place in San Francisco this October. Winners were evaluated based on three separate criteria - Quality, Value and Packaging - and assigned a score out of 100 possible points. The organizer of the event is Beverage Trade Network (BTN), which also hosts industry events around the world and owns media assets and platforms to connect the drinks industry globally.
