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Great night for Liberty Wines and English fizz at IWC 2018 Awards ceremony

Published:  11 July, 2018

As the wine trade gathered at London’s Grosvenor Park Hotel last night for the annual International Wine Challenge Awards dinner the stream of medals came thick and fast with some notable wins this year.

As announcers dropped in the odd update on the France-Belgium World Cup match, Liberty Wine’s David Gleave MW was clearly the ‘man of the match’ in Mayfair, scooping up no less than four awards for his company, including Wine Educator, On-Trade Supplier, Merchant of the Year and the Harpers-sponsored Large Agent medal.

It was also a good night for English wine, with Bob Lindo of Camel Valley (pictured above, middle) clinching the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution in helping driving the quality-focused rise of Britain’s home-grown sparkling wine.

During his acceptance speech, Lindo also congratulated Nyetimber head winemaker Cherie Spriggs, who had earlier picked up the Sparkling Winemaker gong. Spriggs’ medal represented a significant first, being the only non-Champagne sparkling winemaker to win the award in the history of the competition.

South Africa’s celebrated viticulturist Rosa Kruger, who’s work in identifying and reviving the wealth of vine heritage on The Cape, took the Personality of the Year award for her part in fuelling the renaissance of the country’s wine industry.

Elsewhere, in the independent merchant sector Loki Wines and Cambridge Wine Merchants respectively claimed the Small Independent and Large Independent Merchant awards, while Restaurant Wine List of the Year went to Rex Whistler Restaurant at Tate Britain for the depth, variety and reasonable pricing of its exemplary wine list.

Here, then, is a round up of all those that carried awards home:

• IWC Restaurant Wine List of the Year 2018 - Tate Catering, Rex Whistler Restaurant

(Sponsored by Bibendum)

• Highly Commended, IWC Restaurant Wine List of the Year 2018 - The Harrow at Little Bedwyn

(Sponsored by Bibendum)

• IWC Small Agent of the Year 2018 - Seckford Agencies

• IWC Large Agent of the Year 2018 - Liberty Wines

(Sponsored by Harpers Wine & Spirit)

• IWC Online Retailer of the Year 2018 - Lay & Wheeler

• Highly Commended, IWC On-Trade Supplier of the Year 2018 - Hallgarten & Novum

(Sponsored by The Prefecture of Hyogo)

IWC On-Trade Supplier of the Year 2018 - Liberty Wines

(Sponsored by The Prefecture of Hyogo

• IWC Consumer Campaign of the Year 2018 - 31 Days of German Riesling by Wines of Germany at Phipps

• Highly Commended, IWC Merchant Wine List of the Year 2018 - L'Art du Vin

(Sponsored by Sogevinus)

• IWC Merchant Wine List of the Year 2018 - Hallgarten & Novum Wines

(Sponsored by Sogevinus)

• IWC Wine Educator of the Year 2018 - Liberty Wines

(Sponsored by WSET)

• Highly Commended, IWC Small Independent Merchant of the Year 2018 - D. Byrne & Co

• IWC Small Independent Merchant of the Year 2018 - Loki Wines

• IWC Large Independent Merchant of the Year 2018 - Cambridge Wine Merchants

(Sponsored by Châteaux & Domaines Castel)

• IWC Innovator of the Year 2018 - Wanderlust

(Sponsored by Schott Zwiesel

• IWC Wine Club of the Year 2018 - The Wine Society

• IWC High Street Chain of the Year 2018 - Majestic Wine

(Sponsored by Lanchester Wines)

• IWC National Convenience Chain of the Year 2018 - Co-op

(Sponsored by Treasury Wine Estates)

• IWC Supermarket of the Year 2018 - Aldi

(Sponsored by Encirc)

• IWC Merchant of the Year 2018 - Liberty Wines

• IWC Fortified Winemaker of the Year 2018 - Emilio Lustau, Sergio Martínez

• IWC Sparkling Winemaker of the Year 2018 - Nyetimber, Cherie Spriggs

• IWC White Winemaker of the Year 2018 - William Fèvre, Didier Séguier

• IWC Red Winemaker of the Year 2018 - Bodegas Fabre, Hervé J. Fabre

• IWC Sweet Winemaker of the Year 2018 - Weingut Helmut Lang, Helmut Lang

IWC Personality of the Year 2018 - Rosa Kruger

• IWC Lifetime Achievement Award 2018 - Bob Lindo


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