The 2025 Golden Vines® Awards Voting Rules

For each Award Category:

The winner is the one to poll the most nominations from all survey respondents’ completing The Golden Vines® Report (formerly known as The Gérard Basset Global Fine Wine Report) survey up until the ‘cut off’ point (chosen by Liquid Icons, from time to time).

If a tie, the winner is the one whose name appeared higher as a first nomination in survey respondents’ responses the greater number of times, and so forth in the event of a tie (i.e. 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th in descending order as relevant).

If the winner of The World’s Best Fine Wine Producer Award is also the winner of any other Award – except for The Innovation Award and The Hall of Fame Award where wine producers are not nominees – then the second placed wine producer in that category shall be elevated as the winner.

If the winner of The World’s Best Rising Star Award is also the winner of any other Award category – except for The Innovation Award and The Hall of Fame Award where wine producers are not nominees – then the second placed wine producer in The World’s Best Rising Star Award category shall be elevated as the winner. 

Individuals nominated for The Hall of Fame Award have to be living persons on 7 March 2024.

Beginning from 2021, if any producer wins an Award category three times during a ten year period, then that producer is promoted to a Golden Vines® All Star Producer, and cannot then win that Award category again for a period of 10 years from the time they win that Award category for the third time.  However, they are able to win an alternative Award category.

From 2023, a new Award category, The Golden Vines® World’s Best Rare Spirit Producer, has been introduced. Voters can include those working in the fine wine industry (as well as the rare spirits industry) provided they have requisite knowledge and experience to vote.

Votes will be deducted where:

• Survey respondent lists the same name more than once

• Survey respondent completes more than one survey

• Liquid Icons believes multiple surveys have been completed by the same or related individuals

• Liquid Icons believes the survey respondent has voted for a nominee where there is a conflict of interest (e.g. financial, relationship, exclusive distribution agreement with the producer, etc) in respect of some or all of the respondent’s nominations

• Liquid Icons has identified perceived biases in the nominees of any particular survey respondent (e.g. voting for producers from the same region) in respect of some or all of the respondent’s nominations

• Liquid Icons has identified a suspicious pattern of voting that appears to be collusion or coordinated voting in respect of some or all of the respondent’s nominations

Weightings on Votes:

• Survey respondents with less than 7 years fine wine experience but more than 3 years: their votes will be multiplied by 0.66

• Survey respondents with 3 years (or less) fine wine experience: their votes will be multiplied by 0.33

• Survey respondents with more than 15 years fine wine experience: their votes will be multiplied by 1.33

• Survey respondents with either a Masters of Wine or Master Sommelier qualification: their votes will be multiplied by 1.33 irrespective of number of years of fine wine experience

• Survey respondents with either a WSET Diploma or Court of Master Sommeliers Advanced Certificate, or ASI Diploma: their votes will be multiplied by 1.15 irrespective of number of years of fine wine experience

• Survey respondents who are ‘vigneron’ (winemakers): their votes will be multiplied by 1.33

• Survey respondents who are ‘collectors’ with at least 10 years of collecting experience: their votes will be multiplied by 1.00

• Survey respondents who are ‘collectors’ with at least 20 years of collecting experience: their votes will be multiplied by 1.33

Who can Vote for the Golden Vines® Awards:

• Fine Wine (or rare spirits) Press or Media with at least 3 years of industry experience

• Fine Wine (or rare spirits) Merchants, Brokers or Distributors with at least 3 years of industry experience

• Sommeliers with at least 3 years of Fine Wine (or rare spirits) experience

• Sommeliers at Michelin-star Restaurants (with or without certification) and at least 3 years of Fine Wine (or rare spirits) experience

• Barrel-makers (fine wine) with at least 5 years of experience

• Restaurateurs and Chefs of Michelin-star Restaurants with at least 3 years of Fine Wine (or rare spirits) experience

• Other professionals working in the fine wine (or rare spirit) sector with at least 3 years of Fine Wine (or rare spirits) experience

• Professionals (including vigneron) working at Fine Wine (or rare spirit) estates (or distilleries), with at least 3 years of experience, provided: i) they do not vote for their own estate or an estate owned by the same group and ii) they do not vote for another estate from their village or sub-appellation (e.g. voter from an estate in Pauillac cannot vote for another Pauillac producer)

• Fine wine (or rare spirit) collectors with more than 10 years of collecting experience

Please note:

• Voters self-certify that they are qualified

• Voters who designate that they are either Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers or ASI Certificate holders will have their qualifications verified by the respective certification bodies or against their publicly-available directories

• Voters who misrepresent their qualifications and/or years of experience might have their votes invalidated 

• Any contributor to the Golden Vines® Survey who is not qualified to vote for the Golden Vines® Awards shall be designated a “Contributor” to the Report

• Contributors’ votes shall be discounted from voting for the Awards, but any commentary provided can be included for the purposes of the qualitative sections of the Report

The Golden Vines® Academy

• Qualified voters shall be automatically enrolled as Members into the Golden Vines® Academy, a directory of which will be made available on the Liquid Icons website

• Members shall be able to publicly announce their Membership into the Golden Vines® Academy 

• Members shall be given a digital Golden Vines® Academy logo that they can display on their business cards, LinkedIn, social media or emails