So this happened. THIS. What my footer of every article cries out for… has served as a judge…in the hopes that someone might notice and hire me again. They did. They being Mark Norman (a LinkedIn connection) and Eddie Rivkin (CEO and Exec. Director of the Global Wine and Spirit Awards).
Hello Eve,
Both the Craft Beverage Corporation (my company) and the Craft Beverage Expo (Kellie Shevlin) have agreed to work with Edward Rivkin (CEO and Exec. Dir. of the Global Wine Awards company) to grow the first annual awards event into a world-class competition. What will be unique about this event will be that as well as a long list of typical awards this competition will have matching awards for craft (wineries under 5,000 cases) and micro production wine (wines produced in quantities under 1,000 cases).
I would like to personally invite you to join the judging panel for the 2018 Global Wine Awards being held June 17th -20th 2018 at The Tropicana Hotel, in Las Vegas.
As a judge for the event, The Global Wine Awards will…
Best wishes
Mark
You can bet I replied to Norman and Rivkin in record time and confirmed that I definitely wanted in. Rivkin telephoned me a few days later, to get to know more about me, and being me I made sure he knew that though I knew a bit about wine I wasn’t in the same ranks as the other judges. He knew. He said he wanted a group of wine people that could each bring something different, as they say, to the proverbial table. It was a new competition, so part of the proverbial table covered getting the word out about the competition so more wineries would want to be a part of it. One of the tag lines on social media being used, which would attract my attention if I were a winemaker was: #ISO100pts
The judges were Deborah Parker Wong, David Glancy, Stacie Hunt, Roger Bohmrich, Paul R. Ellis, Dänny Ronen, Cameron Sisk, Cassandra Brown and little old me. Now, I had met Wong, in fact sat right next to her, when I was asked to be a guest judge for L.A. International Wine Competition. She was a pleasure to taste with and learn from, and she made me feel right at home.
(It was my first experience as a judge, later I would be invited to judge the Long Beach Grand Cru.)
I also knew Stacie Hunt, in fact I had suggested Rivkin hire her as well to fill out our panel. Hunt had been one of my educators with the North American Sommelier Association (NASA) when I took my American Wine Specialist ® certification classes. I had met her several times at different tastings as well. I knew I would be in good company.
The other judges that I hadn’t met before, well, after reading their full bios on the Global Wine Awards website, I knew just enough about them to realize one thing: they had far more wine education and certifications under their belt than I did. I wasn’t too intimated though as being a judge twice I was always treated respectfully, even when being shown the ropes. I was really starting to look forward to rolling up my sleeves. And about those sleeves:
Can you all please reply with what size lab coat you think you would wear? My plan was to surprise everyone with a really cool embroidered judge’s coat. Then I realized I can’t pull off the surprise without knowing your sizes. Poof there goes the surprise! I will only ask that you wear the lab coats for the part of the session(s) that will be photographed.
#ohboy – you know I forwarded this email to lots of family and friends! A lab coat! Embroidered! With my NAME on it? The amount of social media and press I could get (send out) was blowing my little blond brain up.
Now all I had to worry about would soon be really happening again: how many wines were we to sample?
Would I be able to keep up with the other judges in our speed tastings? Would we agree on scores, or as I’ve experienced in the past, will there be discussions at times to see the same attributes or flaws others saw? How many green olives and gray beef would I have to consume to cleanse my palate? Etc. etc. etc.
That ends part one of my little adventure. Look for my next installment where I will tell you how the judging process went, and then in a final installment I hope to share all of the medal winners!
Website: https://globalwineawards.co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Global-Wine-Awards-1833717633611628/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globalwineawardslv/
Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video, authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits. You can also seek her marketing advice via Eve@EveBushmanConsulting.com
