DB awards 2017: the winners announced

We bring you the winners of 2017’s Drinks Business Awards, which were announced yesterday afternoon at a ceremony at the London Wine Fair.

Over the following pages are the results from this year’s awards, which are are engineered to recognise and reward top performers across the international drinks industry.

Now in their 14^th year, 2017’s winners confirmed the increased importance of retro drinks packaging, the strength of the whisky and gin sectors, the power of consumer events, and the rise of one company in particular, the UK’s Conviviality Plc.

A full report on each winning person, brand and business will appear on thedrinksbusiness.com tomorrow, complete with pictures and judges comments, while today we bring you a list of the winners in each category, beginning with our awards for the leaders in drinks design.

Packaging awards

Best Design & Packaging for Wine


Winner:
Cru for London Cru re-design LDN SW6

Commended:
Off-Piste wines for El Domador del Fuego Rioja Reserva gift box

Shortlisted:
Denomination for the Fazzoletto range
Denomination for Four Winds

Best Design & Packaging for Spirits


Winner:
ATOM Supplies for That Boutique-y Gin Company

Commended:
M&E for Method and Madness
Stranger & Stranger for Italicus

Shortlisted:
Dangerous Don for Dangerous Don Café Mezcal
Stranger & Stranger for The Circus

Marketing awards

Consumer Campaign of the Year


Winner:
Borough Wines & Beers for California Wine Month

Commended:
Cultural Communications for the Cloudy Bay Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Shortlisted:
English Wine Producers for English Wine Week
Eulogy for the Chambord Chapter Eight Games
White Label UK for Stoli the vodka at Pride in London

Social Media Campaign of the Year


Winner:
Clarity Comms for #HotCraftSpirits

Runner-up:
Richmond Towers for Franklin & Sons Tonic & Gin pairing masterclass

Shortlisted:
ESOES Digital Solutions for International Sherry Week
Master of Malt for #WhiskySanta

Drinks Event of the Year


Winner (trade):
Wine Australia for The Artisans of Australian Wine 

Runner-up (trade):
Matthew Clark for The Drinks Emporium

Winner (consumer):
CUBE Communications for Finest Wine Bar (Tesco)

Runner-up (consumer):
Waitrose for The Waitrose Drinks Festival 

Commended (consumer):
The Whisky Exchange – The Whisky Show: Old & Rare, Glasgow

Shortlisted:
Clarion Communications for The Aldi Wine Store

Launch of the Year


Winner:
Seedlip

Commended:
ATOM Supplies for That Boutique-y Gin Company

Shortlisted:
Aldi UK online wine shop
Ital Spirits for Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto
Pol Roger for Champagne Pol Roger Brut Vintage 2008

Best Trade Campaign

Winner:
Pol Roger for A Duty to Delight

PR Company of the Year

Winner:
Phipps Relations

Runner-up:
CUBE Communications

Commended:
Clarion Communications

Shortlisted:
Inside Media
Jarvis Communications

Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism

Winner:
Isle of Arran Distillers

Company awards

Drinks Company of the Year

Winner:
Conviviality Plc

Shortlisted:
Araex
Atom Group
Liberty Wines
Spirit of Harrogate

Logistics Company of the Year


Winner:
JF Hillebrand

Shortlisted:
LCB

Best Supply Chain Initiative


Winner:
Liv-ex for Wine Matcher

Shortlisted:
LCB for its bonded wine insurance scheme

On-trade Supplier of the Year


Winner:
Liberty Wines 

Runner-up:
Berkmann Wine Cellars

Commended:
Speciality Drinks

Shortlisted:
Inverarity Morton
South Downs Cellars

Retail awards

Drinks Retailer of the Year


Winner:
Aldi

Shortlisted:
Master of Malt
Waitrose

Retail Buying Team of the Year


Winner:
Waitrose

Independent Retailer of the Year


Winner:
South Downs Cellars

Shortlisted:
Borough Wines & Beers
Master of Malt
Real Ale
The Whisky Exchange

Online Retailer of the Year


Winner:
The Whisky Exchange

Shortlisted:
31Dover.com
Master of Malt
Virgin Wines Online

Fine Wine Retailer of the Year


Winner:
Ginsberg+Chan Wine Merchants Asia

Shortlisted:
BI Wines & Spirits

Personality awards

Alan Lodge Young Drinks Writer of the Year

Winner:
Margarett Waterbury, managing editor at The Whiskey Wash

The Other Side of Life Award – sponsored by Nicolas Feuillatte

Winner:
Colin Thorne, Vagabond Wines

Young Achiever of the Year

Winner:
Ben Branson, Seedlip

Retail Buyer of the Year


Winner:
Dawn Davies MW, Speciality Drinks

Man of the Year

Winner:
Ged Feltham, founder, Portobello Road Gin

Woman of the Year


Winner:
Diana Hunter, CEO, Conviviality Plc

The Lifetime Achievement Award

Recipient:
David Cox