Joseph Berkmann honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award

Joseph Berkmann, the founder of Berkmann Wine Cellars, has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 Drinks Business Awards.

Still at the helm of the London-based distributor he founded in 1987, 89-year-old Berkmann pioneered many things we take for granted in the wine trade, from consumer wine guides and comparative tastings to Beaujolais Nouveau.

“Good and bad times are the different faces of the same coin. It’s a very difficult time for the hospitality business, so more than ever we shall need a good drink.

“I raise my glass to everyone in our beloved industry, in appreciation for this honour and in the hope and expectation of the brightest possible future,” Berkmann said on receiving the award.

Born and raised in the Austrian Tyrol, before entering the trade he worked as a waiter, which gave him a thirst for wine.

Before settling in England in the ‘60s, Berkmann lived in Germany, Switzerland, Libya, Rome, New York, Caracas and Istanbul, siring six sons with four wives.

Two years after arriving in England he opened a French restaurant called Genevieve, despite having never been to France, and swiftly went about building a group of Gallic-inspired venues, which eventually led him to the world of wine and the publishing of the Good Wine Guide in 1973 with journalist Allan Hall.

At the start of that decade he began importing Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau into the UK in a deal decided on a handshake; a venture that morphed into Genevieve Wines, founded in 1964 with the aim of supplying his restaurant customers with the wines found on his menus for at-home consumption.

Before launching the company that bears his name, Berkmann set up a wine firm in New York with Alexis Lichine.

Motivated by a passion for wine rather than money, having wrapped up his restaurant business in 1982, five years later he launched Berkmann Wine Cellars, the day-to-day running of which is now looked after by his son Rupert.

The company remains the largest family-owned and run wine importer in the UK. Putting the customer first, our recipient has pioneered wine training in restaurants, hotels and bars, while fostering long-term partnerships with producers around the world.

Berkmann Wine Cellars is a leading merchant and distributor, supplying all channels of the UK trade with a focus on selling outstanding-value wines of great provenance and character.

Proving its ability to adapt to the swiftly shifting wine landscape, during lockdown Berkmann launched an online platform called Help 4 Hospitality, which donated a proportion of revenues from direct-to-consumer wine orders to The Drinks Trust and Hospitality Action.

Pivoting from trade to consumer sales during lockdown, the online wine shop gave consumers access to a range of wines normally reserved for the trade, raising £75,000 for the hospitality industry in the process.