The Sakura Awards: Female Sommeliers Select Wines for the Dining Table — An Interview with Head Judge Yumi Tanabe

Have you ever seen a wine with this sticker in a liquor store or supermarket wine section?
That is a sign of a delicious wine!

This sticker is placed only on award-winning wines selected at the "Sakura Awards," a competition where female sommeliers select wines from around the world that pair well with home dining.

In this year's 9th Sakura Awards 2022, from traditional regions like France and Italy to New World countries such as South Africa and Chile, a total of4,652 wine items were entered.
Among them,387 items were Japanese wines.
The number of Japanese wine entries has been increasing year by year, and this year reportedly set a record high for the number of items.

A total of 430 female sommeliers served as judges: 280 at the Tokyo venue and 150 at the Osaka venue.
These female sommeliers are active across various fields, including retail, service, education, and importing.
While wine competitions judged exclusively by women are held in a few other regions such as Burgundy, they remain rare worldwide.

We spoke with Yumi Tanabe, Chair of the Sakura Awards Judging Committee, about why she holds a competition judged by female sommeliers and her thoughts on Japanese wine amid such a wide selection of delicious wines.

By the way, the Sakura Awards do not conduct judging by country.
Wines that suit home dining are chosen using the same standard: "what is delicious is delicious."
It is very simple.
While people sometimes say that "wine is complicated" or "hard to choose," why not use this Sakura mark as a guide to look for your own "delicious!" wine?

The announcement of this year's winning wines, which everyone is eager to know, is...

Monday, April 25: Double Gold, Gold, Silver, and Special Awards
Thursday, April 28: Diamond Trophy and Special Award Grand Prix

Both will reportedly be announced on the official Sakura Awards website.
How exciting!

http://www.sakuraaward.com/jp/index.html