The Dragons' Den-style talent show WineStars has signed a deal with Wines of Argentina and is planning to launch a consumer sales website in the next few months.
WineStars Twist will be held at the annual Wines of Argentina trade tasting in London on 19 September. The competition has received 34 entries to date.
Like the inaugural show held at London International Wine Fair in May, WineStars Twist will allow wineries to pitch their unlisted wines to a panel of UK judges.
The Argentina panel will include Andy Lloyd of Majestic, Melissa Yorke of Morrisons and Iain Muggoch of Bibendum.
In a ‘twist’ on the original competition, all judges will be flown out to visit the ten finalist wineries after the trade tasting.
‘A lot of small producers think they will never have a chance in a market like the UK,’ WineStars founder Catherine Monahan told Decanter.com.
‘This gives the wineries a much better opportunity, and it’s nice for buyers that they don’t just see the usual suspects’.
The deal comes as WineStars prepares to launch a direct-to-consumer retail website that will sell wines produced by its competition finalists.
The site, to be named winestarsworld.com, will go live later this year.
Written by Chris Mercer
