Domaine Bousquet Opens a British Competition for Front-Line Wine Sustainability

Domaine Bousquet, the Argentine organic wine producer based in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, has opened applications for a new competition in Britain aimed at wine professionals working in restaurants, hotels and retail. The program, called “Wine for the Future,” begins this month and is being presented by the winery as the first U.K. competition focused on grassroots sustainability in consumer-facing wine businesses.

The initiative was announced in London on Tuesday and is open to applicants across the hospitality and retail sides of the wine trade. Domaine Bousquet said the goal is to push sustainability beyond vineyard and winery practices and into the places where wine is sold, served and explained to customers. The company is partnering with Enotria, International Wineries for Climate Action, Porto Protocol, the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation, the Sustainable Restaurant Association and Sustainable Wine Solutions.

Applications opened Tuesday and will remain open until Aug. 14. The competition will run in three stages between July and October. In the first stage, candidates must complete an online multiple-choice test with 38 questions covering organic and biodynamic viticulture, regenerative farming, carbon impact, water stewardship, certifications and ways to communicate sustainability to consumers. Participants must score at least 60% to move forward.

Those who pass will enter a second phase centered on a workplace project. Over a three-month period running through Sept. 30, entrants will be asked to design, carry out and document a sustainability initiative inside their own business. Domaine Bousquet said those projects must be customer-facing and tied to measurable operational change. Examples given by the organizers include an organic wine tasting, a sustainability-themed dinner or an educational workshop for guests.

The competition is limited to people working in the wine trade who have enough authority inside their business to put such a project into practice. That requirement reflects the structure of the contest: it is not only testing knowledge of environmental issues but also asking participants to show that they can turn those ideas into actions that affect purchasing, service or communication at the point of sale.

Organizers said entrants in the project phase will receive support through online master classes, an in-person session, one-on-one guidance from the competition team and a tasting and master class led by Rodrigo Serrano, a winemaker at Domaine Bousquet. Projects will be judged on ambition and relevance, delivery and evidence, commercial impact and communication quality.

Up to 20 finalists will advance to the last stage on Oct. 23 in London. That final round will include a blind tasting of four wines and a sustainability master class led by Anne Bousquet, the winery’s co-chief executive. The overall winner will be announced at an awards ceremony immediately afterward.

The top prize is a trip for two to Domaine Bousquet’s estate in Gualtallary during the 2027 harvest. According to the company, the visit will include exposure to its regenerative organic and biodynamic farming practices, a winemaker dinner and a stay at Gaia Lodge next to the winery. The winner will also receive a case of Domaine Bousquet wines and a “Wine for the Future” certification. Second- and third-place finishers will receive selections from the winery’s portfolio.

All 20 finalists are set to receive certification, a lapel pin, public recognition as part of the “Class of 2026” and invitations to future Domaine Bousquet trade tastings in Britain. A separate “Best Taster” award will go to the finalist with the highest score in the blind tasting. The certification includes a unique identification number intended for use on LinkedIn profiles, résumés and venue materials.

Anne Bousquet said the competition was built around the idea that sommeliers, buyers, merchants and other front-line wine professionals can influence how sustainability is understood by consumers. In a statement released with the launch, she said wine quality remains essential but argued that people who sell and serve wine are often best placed to explain how it was produced and why farming choices matter.

The judging panel includes representatives from Domaine Bousquet as well as its partner organizations. Among those named by the company are Anne Bousquet and Lucia Radeljak, its global sustainability ambassador.

The launch comes as sustainability language has become more common across wine marketing, trade education and restaurant beverage programs, though standards vary widely from one market to another. Producers have increasingly promoted organic certification, regenerative farming methods and lower-emissions goals, while importers, distributors and hospitality groups have faced growing pressure to show how those claims translate into daily business decisions.

Domaine Bousquet has made environmental credentials central to its identity for years. The winery says it has been certified organic since its vineyards were planted in 1997 on previously undeveloped land in Gualtallary. It joined the B Corp movement in 2022 and says it was among the first 24 wineries worldwide to gain that status. The same year, it became the fourth wine estate to earn Regenerative Organic Certified status and the first outside the United States to do so. It also holds silver-level certification from International Wineries for Climate Action.

The estate covers 172 hectares at about 4,000 feet above sea level in Mendoza’s Uco Valley. Domaine Bousquet says it is Argentina’s largest exporter of certified organic wines. The business is owned and managed by Anne Bousquet and her husband, Labid al Ameri.

By placing restaurant floors, hotel beverage programs and retail shelves at the center of the contest, Domaine Bousquet is trying to shift part of the sustainability debate away from producers alone and toward those who shape consumer choices every day. The company’s argument is that environmental progress in wine depends not only on how grapes are grown but also on how wines are selected, presented and discussed once they reach the market.