Competitions

Our dedicated competitions team can provide a full service solution for any size of competition, whether it has hundreds or thousands of entries. Sensible Wine Services is unparalleled in experience organising and supporting competitions for the UK drinks industry. We understand the need for meticulous attention to detail and are experts in working under pressure, ensuring that no detail, however small, is overlooked.

Whether you need a reliable company to organise the competition from beginning to end or require help with one aspect of the judging process, we can provide the following services:

  • Receiving and checking in entries
  • Disposal and recycling of packaging material
  • Categorisation and flighting of entries into a logical tasting order
  • Preparation of entries for blind tasting
  • Providing equipment and glassware
  • Transporting entries to judging venue
  • Managing the judging process

Contact us to discuss your requirements or view some of our prices here


‘We have worked with Sensible Wines on our Sommelier Wine Awards competition since it started over ten years ago. In that time, it’s grown five-fold, but Karl, Peter and co have stayed perfectly on top of every aspect of the logistics throughout. They’re not just brilliantly organised, their wine knowledge acts as a ‘double-check’ for us when the wines are entered - they really do take a complicated potential headache and turn it into something that works like clockwork year after year.’

Chris Losh, Imbibe

‘If there is one person without whom the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships would not exist, that is Karl Franz, director of Sensible Wine Services (SWS) who heads up our judging logistics. He and his team unpack, number and log every wine that arrives at their depot, sorting them into flights before transporting them to the judging venue where he chills, pours and serves the wines in numbered glasses. Why are SWS and Karl so good at what they do? Because they have more experience than anyone else on earth, providing logistical support for Decanter’s World Wine Awards, Sommelier Wine Awards and the International Wine and Spirit Competition, to name just a few of their very largest clients. They also perform a similar logistics role for a whole raft of major trade tastings.’

Tom Stevenson, Champagne & Sparkling Wine Awards