At the 2019 IWA we decided to focus on extraordinary wine-producing countries to celebrate their wines and its culture. To launch this theme, we chose Italy as our partner country, who have recognised the integrity and the global impact of the India Wine Awards.

Italian wines have a strong representation in India and offer an incredible diversity of styles at a range of price-points. Demand for Italian wines continues to grow among Indian wine consumers who seek food-compatible wines; Reds that range from light and crunchy to opulent and fruity, and vibrant whites with great acidity and gorgeous fruit. So whether you’re a wine snob or a wine enthusiast, Italy will have something to tantalise your palate!

We are deeply grateful to Stefania Costanza, the Consul General of Italy in Mumbai; Fabrizzio Guistarini, Director at the Italian Trade Agency and its associate partners for partnering with the 2019 India Wine Awards.

A section of awards was dedicated for honouring the best Italian wines available in India, that have shined as Diamond Best in Show at the India Wine Awards Tasting Competition. The results are as below.

Winners of a Diamond award are ranked with 95 points and above

At the food and wine pairing competition, the Best Wines were paired with cuisines or dishes popular in India. This unique segment of awards is of great interest to wine lovers, and by now we all know that the one thing that makes wine distinctive and ever so interesting is that it is compatible with food dishes.

The jury this year, had to find winning food and wine combinations across 8 popular cuisines and trending dishes in India. They had 56 wines to put to test and each wine was tried with each dish, so that’s 448 combinations to try!

The jury discovered several wines that paired well with each dish, combinations are worked well. However, one wine from all the winners stood out as the best pairing with a highest score, which was awarded the Best in Show Trophy winner.

Introduced in 2017, the Award in Restaurant Excellence Program celebrates Hotels and Premium Stand-Alone Restaurants across the major consumption cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore , that offer the best wine programs to its guests. Led by a credible jury of international wine experts including three Masters of Wine and one of India’s most prolific wine writer, the aim is to establish a credible platform for recognising the outstanding work and bestowing accolades for restaurants with serious wine programs and well-trained staff.

Choosing wines in restaurants is about more than just pairing wine with food, it’s also about marketing the overall wine experience. It could be about giving customers a relaxing and luxurious way to enjoy wines, or it could be about creating a real winery vibe in the restaurant that encourages guests to try and sample different wines.

The wine destination award recognises restaurants that are creating superlative wine experiences for customers.

Eleven restaurants across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore won the Wine Destination Award, for their incomparable F&B offerings to customers.

The Best Wine List award, recognises and rewards the enormous investment made by owners and sommeliers in terms of time, skill and resources for developing an outstanding , world class wine list.

In addition these awards have also been influential in raising the public’s interest in fine wine generally, and have improved their appreciation of the participating establishments.

For the 2019 edition, the IWA received over 50 enthusiastic nominations across leading hotels and stand-alone premium restaurant brands in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru. The winners of this coveted segment are as follows.