News announced XX/02/2016

The International Wine Challenge announces new Cellar Door of the Year Award for 2016 inpartnership with VisitEngland
IWC and National Tourist Board for England launches search to discover England’s best vineyard experience

The International Wine Challenge (IWC) is partnering with the National Tourist Board, Visit England, on an
initiative launched today to discover and celebrate the country’s best vineyard experiences. The IWC Cellar
Door of the Year Award is a brand new category that will assess the overall customer service and touristic
value delivered by English wine producers.
This new category is the first of its kind at an internationally recognised competition, as the IWC continues tolead the way in innovation within the wine industry.
Hopeful entrants will be visited by an accredited VisitEngland Quality Assessor posing as a regular consumer,
and scored against set criteria. Following the visit, VisitEngland will provide all entrants with a detailed reportof its findings, as well as offering advice and support on areas for improvement, in a bid to help all entrants
continue to develop their offering.
All entries which exceed the required standard of accreditation will be able to use the VisitEngland Quality
Marque on their website and other marketing materials, as a recognisable seal of quality for consumers. As
part of the fee, the winning attraction will also benefit from endorsement by the world’s most respected winecompetition.
An initial shortlist will be announced by the IWC in January 2017, before the overall winner is named at theIWC Awards Dinner in July 2017 in London. The competition is now open for entries online and the deadline
stfor receiving entries is 1 December or 1 month before the attraction closes for the winter season, whicheveris sooner.
Chris Ashton, Events Director of the International Wine Challenge commented:“The IWC Cellar Door of the Year Award is about showcasing and celebrating some of the amazing
experiences offered by our home-grown producers. We felt it was time the industry recognised thecommitment to customer service demonstrated by our English winemakers. We are thrilled to be partneringwith VisitEngland on this endeavour as their seal of approval is worth its weight in gold.”
Pam Foden, Head of Industry Development at VisitEngland commented:“VisitEngland is delighted to be working with the International Wine Challenge to support their new Cellar Dooraward. Our extensive experience in quality assessment of visitor experiences makes us perfectly placed tooffer valuable feedback, share best practice and highlight areas of excellence with the vineyard operators
following each unannounced visit. We look forward to learning more about this expanding new sector of thetourism industry”.
Julia Trustram Eve, Marketing Director at English Wine Producers commented:"Wine tourism is popular the world over and it's great to see it growing so much in the UK. The IWC initiative
will undoubtedly highlight the many fantastic facilities that visitors can enjoy in English vineyards."
The competition is now open for entries. Visit: http://www.iwcmerchantawards.com/en/mas/ for more
information.
---ENDS--All International Wine Challenge news can be found at our Digital Newsroom

What is the International Wine Challenge?
rdIn its 33 year, the International Wine Challenge is accepted as the world’s finest and most meticulously
judged competition. The IWC assesses every wine ‘blind’ and judges each for its faithfulness to style, regionand vintage. Each medal winning wine is tasted on at least three separate occasions by a minimum of 10
different judges including Masters of Wine. Awards include medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze) and Commendedawards. The IWC is committed to helping consumers discover great wine, and the medals displayed on
winning bottles offer a trusted guarantee of quality.
Visit England

VisitEngland’s focus is on the development and delivery of the new Discover England fund for productdevelopment to ensure that bookable regional product is being sold in international markets. This
activity will also benefit the domestic industry by building engagement and partnerships between andacross regions and developing product that will be attractive to both domestic and international
markets.
Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth
market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics
Tourism in England is worth £106 billion, and supports 2.6 million jobs.
For corporate information see www.visitengland.org and for consumer information
see www.visitengland.com.

For more information please contact:
Manifest London

IWC

Helen Kenny & Elly Barham Marsht. 0203 1379270
m. 07738 715079
e.IWC@manifest.london

Chris Ashtont. 07884 063405
e. Chris.Ashton@wrbm.com

All International Wine Challenge news can be found at our Digital Newsroom