Judges Dozen is a fun new way of purchasing wine by empowering wine drinkers to judge and select the wines that are ultimately sold.

Guests are invited to a themed event where they sip in judgment – blind tasting, critiquing and rating wines via their mobile phones. The rating system provides a live view on how wines are performing and ultimately the top 12 wines judged to be the best are the ‘Judges Dozen’, which are then sold online.

• Judges Dozen: great wine by, and for, the people

At their most recent event, the Judges Dozen brief was for everyday wine lovers, to taste and co-create the best 12 wines to suit any BBQ occasion. The only proviso – no wine retailed for more than $20 a bottle.

The BBQ Bottlers Top Drop Show brought them together at a local bowls club to taste, rate and ultimately select the 12 best BBQ wines. To get them into the zone the barbies were fired up and as guests judged their way through six different wine tasting stations a smorgasbord of BBQ delights were served.

To take time out between stations, guests had the opportunity to be taught lawns bowls and play a game before returning to get on with the arduous task of drinking more wine!

Steve Doherty, founder of Judges Dozen, said he wanted to create a dozen wines that people would not only be happy to take to a BBQ but also drink.

“Let’s face it. We’ve all had the experience of guests turning up and off-loading crap wine only to start drinking your good stuff!”

Twelve of the best: the BBQ Judges Dozen.

“It’s a great time to be doing this as we all get out and about leading into Christmas,” Steve said.

“This dozen really takes the pain out of working out what you’re going to take along to drink and provides confidence that people like you have chosen the wines.”

The BBQ Judges Dozen comes in three assortments – a mix of reds and whites, a selection of white wines and a selection of a red wines.

The mix dozen comprises five reds including a shiraz from James Halliday’s 2013 Winery of The Year and a limited release Penfolds that you won’t find in any bottle shop.

There are also six great whites including a Semillon Sav Blanc and a couple of beautiful Clare Valley Rieslings and Pinot Gris plus an old favourite, Primo Estate Colombard. Add a bottle of Chandon Rosé and it’s a tremendous line up for any summer occasion and the festive season. And the price is a mere $199, well under the brief of $20 a bottle.

You can see and buy the full dozen here

Judges Dozen founder Steve Doherty

Who is the founder?

Steve Doherty has spent most of his working life in the advertising industry. His mother comes from a family of hoteliers and his uncle, from his father’s side, was a wine journalist and judge. Steve has always had a penchant for wine. It was only a matter of time before his marketing experience and passion combined to form what is now Judges Dozen.

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