His trained palate serves as a lead sommelier and wine judge for the PR%F Awards
By Debbie Hall
Photos by Matthew-Lorèn Lindsey
Sommelier Matthew-Lorèn Lindsey has spent the last 15 years as a wine collector and industry leader in the wine space as an importer and distributor in the Las Vegas casino market. He is the lead sommelier and wine judge for the PR%F Awards, the largest double-blind wine and spirit competition in the United States.
He serves as the Executive Sommelier and Director of Wine for the National Blended Festival, curating the wine experience for thousands of festival attendees. Additionally, he is the founder of Appellation Wine Brands, a luxury lifestyle company that creates wine brands for restaurant groups, hotels, and private companies.
Lindsey shares his passion for wine as the founder and educator of The Advanced Wine Course.com, an e-learning platform for wine enthusiasts and novices. He is the creator of advancedwinecourse.com, an online wine course. He is the Sommelier and Director of Fine Wine at West Coast Beverages (import and distribution company).
Officially named the world’s largest spirits and wine competition in the US, PR%F Awards, judges travel across the US to create spirits, wines, and beverages in a proprietary 100-point rating system. Each judge is a key buyer and decision maker in the spirits/wine industries and comes from different facets of the industry: distributors, retail, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, resorts, airlines, liquor stores, box chains, and online distributors.
The dual adult beverage competition format includes two competitions in one—PR%F Awards-Masked, The Double-Blind Tasting, and PR%F Awards-Unmasked, The Total Package. After tasting points are accumulated, the distinguished panel of judges (all buyers) will evaluate each brand unmasked, showing their naked contents. Judges will see and feel the bottle, can, or product, read the ingredients, and see the overall marketing package (look, feel, and approach) the brands want to convey to the patron.
This prestigious honor for winners selected by beverage industry buyers is the ultimate competition with more than 300 categories. PR%F Awards thanks all of its judges and showcases the experts that participate.
The PR%F Awards are heating up, and to accommodate top buyers, the date to submit has been extended. Proof Awards 2022 will be held in November, and all samples must be in by October 1.-.
Don’t lose the opportunity of getting your brand in front of our many judges, all beverage buyers from across the US. Enter your SKU, and you automatically go into two separate competitions—PR%F Awards Masked, the coveted double-blind tasting competition, and PR%F Awards Unmasked, the total package, where our judges taste and rate your product while evaluating your bottle, price point, look, feel and taste to see if it will be a perfect fit for their shelves. Enter today at www.proofawards.com.
