PRESS INFORMATION
Friday 8th July
International Wine Challenge celebrates the On & Off-Trade during its awards evening

The International Wine Challenge, the world’s most influential, impartial and rigorously judged winecompetition, brought the UK wine industry together at a live awards evening on 7th July to celebrate
the winners of this year’s competition.
During the ceremony at the prestigious Hurlingham Club in London, the International Wine
Challenge celebrated the achievements of businesses in the on- and off-trade, along with a numberof new award categories.
This year’s awards saw Liberty Wines crowned with the top award of IWC Merchant of the Year. It
also snapped up a further six awards, including Merchant Educator of the Year, Specialist MerchantAustralia and Specialist Merchant Italy, which it has won for three consecutive years. Goedhuis &Co held on to the title of Specialist Merchant Burgundy and picked up Specialist Merchant En
Primeur this year. The Wine Society also achieved multiple successes in the categories of: Specialist
Merchant Austria, Specialist Merchant Portugal, Specialist Merchant Regional France, and Wine
Club of the Year.
Merchant Ultracomida/Spanish Wines Direct, a newcomer in the Welsh category was awarded IWC
Regional Merchant Wales 2022.
Naked Wines won IWC Online Retailer of the Year for the first time and is one of the youngest
online retailers to ever win this award. It captured the judges’ attention with its unique e-commerce
platform which runs similarly to a social media network, giving its 964,000 member community theopportunity to speak directly to wine producers. Judges were touched by the community aspect thisonline platform provides and were also impressed by the retailer’s ethos and message of unison,giving a friendly feel that buzzes with life.
This year, the Innovator of the Year award went to Vagabond Wines for two highly impressive
campaigns launched within the past year. The first, Vagabond SOMM, is a personalised winesubscription service that intuitively picks up on customers’ likes and dislikes in order to deliver
sample bottles tailored to their preferences. Its second campaign, ‘Tap & Pour,’ is a smartphone appthat links to customers’ bank cards and, when held against a sensor in the store’s enomatic wine
machines, it reveals tasting notes as well as the option to purchase and pour the wine directly. The
judges noted that these initiatives paved the way for providing consumers access to a wide variety ofwines.
Thirty Fifty, the well-established education and e-commerce platform, was awarded Consumer
Educator of the Year, a brand-new award for 2022. Owners Chris and Jane Scott were recognised forproviding great content and delivering private and corporate WSET-certified wine tastings withgenuine passion and personality. Thirty Fifty is cleverly named after the latitudes where most of theworld's wine grapes are grown, between 30 degrees and 50 degrees latitude, North and South of theequator. The online platform has shown resilience throughout the covid pandemic. It continues toexpand its database and also hosts an e-commerce wine shop that stocks the wines tasted at its
events.
This year Supermarket of the Year was awarded to Waitrose for the third year in a row, while Marks& Spencer was Highly Commended in this category.
The International Wine Challenge also recognised exceptional businesses in the on-trade with two
new Wine List awards. The Restaurant Wine List of the Year – Contemporary was awarded tonationwide Tapas chain Ibérica and the Restaurant Wine List of the Year – Fine Dining went to twoMichelin-starred Le Gavroche based in London.
Helen McGinn, Co-Chair and IWC UK Merchant Awards judge commented that: ‘The judges were
truly overwhelmed at the initiative and excellence within the level of entries for the 2022 awards.
Each year as the categories grow it’s never easy to pick winners from the amazing candidates thatchampion our wonderful industry.’
Other awards announced on the night included:•••••

IWC Consumer Campaign of the Year 2022 – The Whisky Exchange for The Champagne Show
2021
IWC Sake Brewer of the Year 2022 – Niizawa Sake Brewery Co Ltd.
IWC Fairtrade Award 2022 – Spa Reserve Chenin Blanc Fairtrade 2021
IWC Sustainable Trophy 2022 Trinty Hill Wines Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay 2022
IWC Organic Trophy 2022 – Giesen Single Vineyard Clayvin Syrah 2019

During the awards ceremony, The International Wine Challenge also revealed its ‘best in show’Champion wines and Great Value winners for 2022. Tesco had a stellar evening, taking the trophies
for both Great Value Sparkling and Great Value Champion Red as well as being crowned IWC Own
Label Range of the Year. The full list of Champion and Great Value winners is below:
IWC Great Value Champion Sake 2022
IWC Great Value Champion Sweet 2022
IWC Great Value Champion Fortified 2022
IWC Great Value Champion Sparkling 2022
IWC Great Value Champion Rosé 2022
IWC Great Value Champion White 2022

Niizawa Sake Brewery Atagonomatsu
Betsushikomi Honjozo
The Ned Noble Sauvignon Blanc 2021
Morrisons The Best Oloroso
Tesco Finest Premier Cru Champagne NV
Cintu Ile de Beaute Corsican Rosé 2021
Paul Mas Réserve Languedoc Blanc 2021

IWC Great Value Champion Red 2022IWC Champion Sake 2022
IWC Champion Sweet Wine 2022- Alois KracherTrophy
IWC Champion Fortified Wine 2022 - ManuelLozano Trophy
IWC Champion Sparkling Wine 2022 - DanielThibault Trophy
IWC Champion White Wine 2022
IWC Champion Red Wine 2022

Tesco Finest Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2019
Inoue Seikich Sawahime Ginjo
Tenuta Di Capezzana Vinsanto di Carmignano
Capezzana Riserva 2014
Bodegas Tradicion Oloroso Tradicion VORS
Rare Champagne Millésime 2008
Trinity Hill Wines Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay
2020
Maison Delas Frères Les Bessards 2019

The International Wine Challenge Merchant Awards UK recognises and rewards the outstandingachievements of the UK wine trade, from merchants and distributors to educators and marketers.
This year’s winners were announced on 7th July, and the full list of those awarded can be seen here.
The ultimate winners from IWC 2022, including IWC Winemakers of the Year, can be seen here.
ENDS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTES TO EDITORS:The International Wine Challenge
In its 39th year, the International Wine Challenge is accepted as the world’s most rigorous, impartial and influential winecompetition. The International Wine Challenge assesses every wine ‘blind’ and judges each for its faithfulness to style, region
and vintage. Awards include medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze) and Commended awards. Trophies are awarded to the very bestwines in each category. The International Wine Challenge is committed to helping consumers discover great wine, and themedals displayed on winning bottles offer a trusted guarantee of quality.
For more information on the IWC, please contact the IWC team at Phipps
iwc@thisisphipps.com : +44 (0) 203 968 2455