Frequently Asked Questions
Costs and duty charges
How much does it cost to enter a bottle of wine into the competition?
Please see the costs, duty and amends page for full details.
I am entering my wine from my winery outside the UK. What price shall I give?
If entering from outside the UK, please consult your UK distributor and ask them what is the single bottle, ex-VAT price that a bar or restaurant would pay for your wine. If your distributor sells to wholesalers who then sell on to UK bars/restaurants, please use that final price that the wholesaler would charge to bars/restaurants.
We don’t yet have a distributor in the UK. Can we still enter? What price shall I give?
Yes, you can. If you have yet to find a UK distributor, please enter your ex-cellars bottle price (without tax, duty or any other additional costs) in the Trade Price field. Please tick the No, it's not available in the UK button.
We will use your ex-cellars price to calculate an estimated UK on-trade price for your single bottle. To do this, we will apply a special formula, which includes the cost of shipping, relevant taxes, duty and factors such as agents' margin, warehousing and delivery, in order to give you a realistic UK on-trade price for your wine. We will then liaise with you to confirm this price.
Entries
What category should I enter my wines into?
Wines can be entered as either an Essential or a Specialist wine.
Essential wines are styles that appear on every restaurant list - House Red, White and Rose and must be under £10 (ex VAT UK).
Specialist wines are more esoteric and expensive wines that can be used to build your list. These wines are over £10 (ex VAT UK). All sparkling, dessert, fortified and aromatised to be entered here.
How can I tell if my wines are eligible?
As long as they are not available in high street retailers or national multiples, yes they are eligible. The exceptions to this are sparkling and fortified wines, which may be entered even if they are available in the high street. Check here for further clarification.
How do I complete my online entry and submit my wines?
Please see the Submitting your Wines page for easy instructions on what to do after you have Entered your wines.
Sending Samples
Where do I send my wine samples for judging?
Once you have submitted your wines into the competition, you will be given instructions on sending your bottles for judging. Please send 4 bottles of each wine entered before 03 February 2025 to:
FAO: Sommelier Wine Awards 2025, c/o Wine Logistics Ltd, 14 St. Georges Business Park, White Lion Road, Amersham, HP7 9JQ
You can download the delivery address label by clicking here
Samples sent in for tasting must be of fully finished wine – no tank samples will be accepted. If labels are unfinished, please note this on your on-line entry, and affix a temporary label with details including Producer, Wine Name, Vintage, Region, and %ABV.
When importing into the UK please download and complete this commercial invoice to avoid delays at cutoms and send DDP (Duty Paid). Wine Logistics will not accept or pay any courier charges, unless agreed in advance.
There might be problems with delivery of my wines to Wine Logistics. What shall I do?
Please email swa@agilemedia.co.uk as soon as possible if you forsee potential delivery issues.
Entry amendments
I have finalised my Entry and pressed the Enter button, but I have found out that a specific vintage is not available. Can I amend the wine’s details?
Wine detail amendments can be accepted up until the Bottle Delivery Deadline – 03 February 2025. Please email swa@agilemedia.co.uk to let us know of any changes.
Can I remove a wine once I have submitted my entry?
On the condition that SWA HQ is contacted prior to the Wine Entry Deadline, 20 January 2025, credit can be given for wines removed. After the 20 January 2025 deadline, entries cannot be removed or refunded. Please email swa@agilemedia.co.uk to let us know.
Can I add more wines now that I have submitted my entry?
If before the Online Entry Deadline of 20 January 2025, then yes you can enter further wines.
Please contact swa@agilemedia.co.uk if you encounter any problems.