What’s in a Name?: Introducing the newly renamed Golden Vines® Report dedicated to Gérard Basset OBE MS MW MBA OIV MSc ASI World Champion 2010
The 2023 Gérard Basset Global Fine Wine Report | © Liquid Icons
What makes a great wine? As the old saying goes, ‘Age and glasses of wine should never be counted’ but, in a world where opinions can be highly personal and the best wines can trade hands for significant sums of money, customers and wine professionals want, and need, a measure of quality. When it comes to investing in a great bottle, the numbers matter. In 2022, we launched The Golden Vines® Global Fine Wine Report as a means of giving measure to an industry and experience that can often be incredibly subjective. Wine rating systems have typically been a process subject to gatekeeping by a privileged few, drawing on a relatively small data set. It was our opinion that there needed to be a new way to celebrate quality, and this is why we created the Report.
The Report & Its Rigor and Validity
The Golden Vines® Report is a fundamental cornerstone of The Golden Vines® Awards: the starting point from which all our awards, events, masterclasses and activations derive, and the largest survey of its kind. In only a few short years, the Report has established a reputation as being both authoritative and groundbreaking. Unlike our competitors, ours was the first report based upon extensive polling from a wide range of experts in the field, including Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers, sommeliers from Michelin-star restaurants, wine merchants, brokers and importers, wine press and media and winemakers themselves. ‘Making good wine is a skill, but making fine wine is an art’, said winemaker Robert Mondavi. People in the industry understand this distinction, and so their opinion is vital.
True diversity and breadth of experience is vital when it comes to establishing an accurate and representative data set, so how do the numbers break down when it comes to our voters? Among them are:
27 MWs, 22 MSs, 43 Advanced Sommeliers, 23 ASI Diploma holders, and 213 DipWSET holders, with voters averaging over 15 years experience across the sector.
330 sommeliers and fine wine professionals working at world-class fine dining restaurants (including 1, 2, and 3 Michelin star restaurants and those from The World's 50 Best Restaurants list), private members’ clubs, fine wine clubs, luxury hotels and resorts (including 5-star hotels and resorts on remote exotic islands), bars (including those from The World's 50 Best Bars list), luxury casinos, airlines, private jet companies, luxury cruise ships, wine educational organisations, and haute cuisine culinary schools;
220 fine wine merchants
177 vignerons
170 distributors
123 journalists and wine press members
103 collectors
91 fine wine estate and rare spirit distillery representatives
44 educators
59 brokers
31 representatives of the hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality industry organisations
24 consultants
29 auction house professionals and
14 importers and buyers
We stand by our reputation for promoting excellence, and all entrants and participants undergo a vigorous vetting process to establish their credentials and maintain standards. It’s important the system can’t be ‘gamed’. We check whether all those who listed a Master of Wine and Master Sommelier qualification actually possess them by verifying the qualification holders with the database of the Institute of Masters of Wine as well as the Court of Master Sommeliers (both the European and American Chapters). Furthermore Deloitte, one of the Big Four international accounting firms, independently adjudicate the Report’s results.
Our numbers continue to grow. For the 2022 edition, 943 fine wine industry professionals from more than 100 countries voted, with an average experience in fine wine of more than 14 years. It was by far and away the largest and most diverse fine wine industry poll ever taken, and in 2023 it expanded still further with 965 professionals from 120 countries, averaging 15 years industry experience, casting their judgment. The winners were awarded with their Golden Vines® Awards in a number of categories, including Best Fine Wine Producer in Europe, Best Fine Wine Producer of the Americas, Best Fine Wine Producer in the Rest of the World, the World’s Best Rising Star and the World’s Best Fine Wine Producer.
Historically - in addition to covering micro and macro trends and regional variations - the Report has focussed almost exclusively on fine wine. This year we’re including something different. For the first time we’ll be adding questions on rare spirits – in addition to The World’s Best Spirits Brand Award which we introduced last year – making the most of our voters’ incredible expertise in the field, and solidifying our position as the market leader when it comes to ascertaining industry excellence. This more comprehensive, more holistic view, will ensure the Report is of even greater benefit to the industry going forward.
As ever, everything we do is to honour the legacy of one incredible man: the inimitable Gérard Basset, who even after his untimely death, remains one of the most highly respected, influential and garlanded wine professionals the business has ever seen. It was incredibly important to us that the Report be dedicated to him and the excellent work of the Gérard Basset Foundation.
Gérard Basset OBE MS MW MBA OIV MSc ASI World Champion | © Mirentxu Bellet
"The 2024 Golden Vines® Fine Wine Report, produced by Liquid Icons, continues to showcase the trends and the trajectory of the fine wine world, collating the opinions of respected and well-qualified wine & spirits professionals the world over. We are very proud that the Report promotes excellence through selecting the winners of the annual Golden Vines® Awards, celebrating the artistry of the world’s greatest wine estates, as this aligns very clearly with Gérard’s pursuit of mastery of his craft. Even though this is the first year that the Report will carry a name of The Golden Vines Report and will not bear Gérard's name directly in its title – but will still be dedicated to his memory – we know that he would be delighted to see it continue gaining in rigour and pertinence to the fine wine world with every passing year. As in years past, we would like to say a profound 'Thank You' to everyone in the wine industry for their support of the 2024 Report, and of the Gérard Basset Foundation’s mission to uplift and encourage wine, spirits and hospitality professionals from a diverse range of backgrounds to thrive and succeed in their chosen careers”
– Nina Basset Chairperson & Trustee, The Gérard Basset Foundation
– Romané Basset Trustee, The Gérard Basset Foundation
As we move forward, The Golden Vines® Report and the Golden Vines® Awards will continue to lead the way and set the industry standard for excellence, celebrating and championing the ‘best of the best’ and giving a platform to the true masters of the craft. We hope it honours the legacies of both Liquid Icons and Gerard Basset Foundation’s continued commitment to excellence and inclusivity, lifting up the true heroes when it comes to the art of wine.
As with the previous editions of this research paper, our 2024 Report will be made available on a complimentary basis for the fine wine industry members & lovers in October 2024, on our website.
To learn more about The Golden Vines® Report and download complimentary copies of the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Reports, please visit: https://liquidicons.com/work/gerard-basset-global-fine-wine-report
The voting for The 2024 Golden Vines® Report will open in the first half of March this year. To request invitation to participate and vote in The 2024 Report Survey, please fill in the form on our website and we will email you with an invitation when the Survey goes live: https://liquidicons.com/request-invitation-to-participate-in-the-2024-grard-basset-global-fine-wine-report-survey