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The Drinks Business Awards 2023: profiling the winners

17 May 2023 By Patrick Schmitt

We profile all the winners of 2023’s Drinks Business Awards following a ceremony yesterday at the London Wine Fair, where, among others, South Africa won big along with a much-revived UK wine retailer and twin sisters behind a fast-growing mixer brand.

This year’s awards, which, as usual, took place on the second day of the London Wine Fair, were a “milestone event” for the drinks business, as they marked the 20^th since the industry accolades were launched in 2003.

And over that time, db has witnessed – and written about – many developments in the trade, reflected in the winners of these annual awards, which are designed to reward excellence in the drinks trade, covering sectors from packaging to retail, logistics to marketing, company management to brand launches, as well as personalities – with honours for the likes of young achiever, along with man and woman of the year trophies.

Among these changes have been the rise of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, the surge in sales of Prosecco, the growth of Argentine Malbec, the increase in New World Pinot Noir and the emergence of Chinese fine wine, along with more recent phenomena, be it the global demand for Provencal rosé – helped by celebrity backing – as well as the fast-maturing business that is English sparkling.

However, the greatest change over these 20 years, and most reflected in these awards, is the rise of sustainable wine production. A term such as ‘organic’ was still a bit of a dirty word in wine in the early naughties, but has since become trendy, and a must-have tag if you’re a top-end product.

But that’s not all. To be sustainable you must also manage pollutants and people in the best way possible, while, of course, remaining profitable – a loss-making business is not sustainable.

Which brings us to the winners we are about to celebrate today. These are all sustainable brands and businesses – operators who are running economically viable companies that are able to support their staff, local communities, and do as little harm as possible to their environs.

Whatever category they fall into, from the fast-growing low-and-no alcoholic drinks sector to the expanding world of luxury wines, today’s recipients are all united by their strong sustainable credentials.

Indeed, the London Wine Fair, which provided the venue for the ceremony, is a launchpad for a global bottle collection initiative, which is an exciting, if complicated step in the right direction for a sector under increasing scrutiny for packaging weight and waste.

Read on to see not only who won in this year’s awards, but also to find out what the judges thought of these impressive operators.

PACKAGING AWARDS

Best Design & Packaging in Wine

Due to the large number of high-quality entries, this year the judges decide to split the category, awarding wines according to whether they were standalone labels, or designs for an entire range.

Winner (single sku): CF Napa for Clos du Val, Bernard’s Cuvée

The judges loved the design of this limited-edition Napa wine for its scrapbook-style black and white photos, calling it “extremely engaging and authentic” and adding that it told a story and provided a glimpse into Napa Valley in the 1970s.

Special commendation (single sku): CF Napa for The Grappler

The striking, clever use of colour on the wrestling masks, which are themselves a nod to popular Mexican culture as a way of honouring the many Mexican farm workers in Napa’s winelands, impressed the judges. They said it “hit the right balance between being witty, quirky and original” and thought the design was disruptive for a premium wine, and had conviction.

Winner (multiple skus): Gutter&Stars

The judges were excited by the vibrant indie record sleeve designs of this collection from ‘urban winery’ Gutter&Stars, based in Cambridge. They said the collection’s impact “comes purely from design, not from pyrotechnics” and admired the way the design carried through from bottle to merchandise, boxes and stickers for a 360-degree approach to packaging that had scope to “keep on reinventing itself”.

Special commendation (multiple skus): Denomination for Second Glance

The judges wanted to commend this brand for its “joyfully weird” label designs showing merged faces of humans and animals. They liked the clever and poignant concept behind the design, which was created following the Covid pandemic and alludes to the masks we had to wear which led to people seeing only “half a face”, leaving the other half to the imagination.

Shortlist:

CF Napa for Clos du Val’s ‘Bernard’s Cuvée’
CF Napa for The Grappler
Denomination for On the Fringe
Denomination for Second Glance, and
Gutter&Stars

Best Design & Packaging in Spirits

Winner: Denomination for Los Dios Magicos Tequila

The judges were enamoured by the beautiful bottle neck and quirky labels depicting elements of magical realism from Mexican folklore, which the judges felt were the perfect mix of modern and traditional. According to our judging panel, “Tequila should be a bit edgy” and this brand got it “absolutely spot on”. They also applauded the “emotional pull” of the design.

Special commendation: Onikishi Japanese Whisky, Cherry Blossom

The judges wanted to reward this anime-inspired whisky for its bold attitude and its confident, boldly Japanese design, rather than mimicking the design of Scotch whiskies. They loved the wax on the bottle, felt it would do well on back bars and were certain that consumers would want to keep the bottle.

Special commendation: Douglas Laing’s Big Peat, The Smokehouse Edition

The judges were keen to commend Douglas Laing for a successful redesign of an existing product. They felt the design evolution was strong and “completely unabashed”, with one judge commenting “It’s being entirely itself and not pandering to any cues”. They said that through the design, the brand was helping to “democratise whisky”.

Shortlist:

Denomination for Los Dias Magicos
Douglas Laing’s Big Peat, The Smokehouse Edition
Milestone Beverages for Onikishi Japanese Whisky, Cherry Blossom
Patron El Alto

The Sparflex Award for Best English and Welsh Sparkling Wine Packaging

Winner: Exton Park

The judges were unanimous in choosing the South Downs-based Exton Park for the redesign of its Reserve Blends range. They enjoyed the surprising “peel to reveal” innovation of a vineyard view printed on the back of the foils, and thought the overall design was sleek and well-defined, with a lovely texture to the label. They also liked that the shape of the wine label mimics the shape of individual plots within Exton’s vineyard.

MARKETING AWARDS

Best Launch of the Year

Winner: AMANDLA by HER

This entry showcased an exceptional debut in the UK market. The brand’s story and messaging resonated strongly with consumers and retailers alike, leading to major retail listings and impressive media endorsement. AMANDLA’s packaging and brand design effectively captured the energy and vibrancy of the venture, while their strategic media outreach and social media campaigns successfully generated extensive coverage and built an engaged community of followers. The brand’s achievements, including being part of prominent retailer programs and securing distribution agreements, demonstrated strong sales performance and market potential.

Created by HER Wine Collection, a majority black-owned and 100% black female-run South African business, AMANDLA “is a celebration of the diverse history of Africa, the vibrancy of black culture and the collective stories of the incredible team behind this wine.” AMANDLA, meaning POWER, “stands for the courage and resilience within women”.

PR Company of the Year

With so many strong entries, this was one of this year’s toughest categories to judge – just drawing up a shortlist was extremely difficult, so the five companies listed below should be proud.

Winner: Button Collective

With gushing testimonials from clients and press, and a series of high-profile campaigns for luxury brands, the judges were mightily impressed by Button Collective. Praised for placing drinks products in the right hands through mixing arts and alcohol, this PR agency was considered a worthy winner for recent campaigns, such as its work for The Dalmore whisky, which saw the brand partner with Scotland’s design museum, V&A Dundee for the launch of a collectible spirit that subsequently sold-out in record time.

Commendation: Sunny Side UP

The judges wanted to commend Sunny Side Up for being a B-Corp Certified business with an impressive list of satisfied drinks clients, and successful campaigns, particularly those in the past year for Ridgeview, Villa Maria and Cune, which saw this agency successfully grow awareness for a set of very different brands.

Shortlist:

Button Collective
CUBE Communications
KLG Public Relations
Richmond & Towers
Sunny Side UP

Trade Campaign of the Year

Winner: JFOODO Sake Seafood Sensations by SLAM Communications

Our winner took on the difficult task of promoting Sake in London through a short-staffed restaurant sector, and without targeting places serving Japanese food. With the objective to showcase the versatility of Sake with seafood regardless of the cuisine, restaurants across the UK capital were recruited to develop special menus and participate in the promotion. Called Sake Seafood Sensations, the campaign saw 25 restaurants take part in a seven-week promotion featuring 48 Sake brands from 33 breweries. Not only did the promotion raise the level of awareness among the trade and consumers, it also saw all the participating restaurants benefit from staff training from Sake experts.

Commendation: Richmond Towers for Brooklyn

The judges wanted to commend Richmond Towers for an eye-catching campaign for Brooklyn Brewery in London. To mark the launch of Brooklyn Brewery’s new Pilsner in the UK, Richmond Towers transported Brixton locals to Brooklyn, by teaming teamed up with street artist (and Brooklynite) Danielle Mastrion to curate the world’s first mural using paint infused with the new pilsner. Not only did the campaign generate a 50% uplift in coverage for the brewery, but also helped to secure listings in Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury and Asda.

Shortlist:

De Bortoli Blue Gris Campaign
Richmond & Towers for This is Brooklyn
SLAM Communications for Alsace Wines
SLAM Communications for JFOODO Sake Seafood Sensations

Consumer Campaign of the Year

This year one campaign stood out for a pink-tinged campaign to raise the profile of Provencal rosé. 2023’s Consumer Campaign of the Year goes to…

Winner: CUBE Communications for Make Your Life Rosé for Vins de Provence

This year one campaign stood out for a pink-tinged campaign to raise the profile of Provencal rosé. Combining lifestyle imagery, and memorable messaging, the campaign took Vins de Provence to a much wider audience while creating an even stronger association between Provence and rosé. The result was not only an increase in press coverage and Instagram engagement, but also market share.

Social Media Campaign of the Year

Winner: Caleno’s Thursday Dating

A great example of a spontaneous organic campaign on a small budget, Caleno’s Thursday Dating stunt involved running a speed dating night, fuelled by drinks which the daters did not know were alcohol-free until the big reveal at the end of the night. The judges called it “a brilliant piece of creative, low-cost activity” and liked the fact that it was not just about driving a product, but about conveying “a wider message that young people can have a fun evening without booze”.

Commended: De Bortoli April Fool’s Day Social Media Campaign

The judges liked this simple, yet effective 24 hour campaign which tricked De Bortoli’s followers on April Fools Day into believing their new Woodfired Grenache could be made by mixing a sachet of powder to water. Visitors were instead rewarded with a $5 voucher to spend on the new wine.

Commended: California Wine Week by First Pour on behalf of the California Wine Institute

The judges wanted to award a commendation for this campaign that targeted the on-trade and used social media ‘ambassadors’ to create their own content, driving more than 13,000 unique users to the California Wine Week web page.

Shortlist:

Caleño Drinks X Thursday Dating Stunt
Challenging Perceptions with Wynns
De Bortoli April Fool’s Day Social Media Campaign
First Pour on behalf of the California Wine Institute for California Wine Week

Drinks Event of the Year

Winner: Wine & Travel Week 2023 by Essência Company

Praised for “pulling off an ambitious project”, this year’s winner of Best Drinks Event was a ‘Wine & Travel Week’ stems to establish Portugal as the “epicentre of the global wine tourism industry”. Essência Company, with the support of Turismo de Portugal, brought to the city of Porto in February the first edition of an event that gathered professionals and key players from all over the world in a Trade Show, a Forum, and a programme of Experiences across the 7 Portuguese tourism regions.

Shortlist:

Waddesdon Wine Collection Tasting 2022
The Whisky Exchange Cognac Show, and
Wine & Travel Week 2023 by Essência Company

Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism

Winner: Vina Santa Rita

Our judges were blown away by the beautiful photography that accompanied the pitch for this entry and unanimously awarded Viña Santa Rita this year’s Tourism Award. Their winery is based in the heart of the Maipo Valley and boasts a 16-room boutique hotel, one of Chile’s largest and best preserved private parks, the Doña Paula restaurant, café and wine shop. Their estate also has an on-site chapel, which is used today for concerts and weddings and an Andean museum, which houses a collection of about 3,000 archaeological and ethnographic pieces of pre-Colombian people.

RETAILING AWARDS

Independent Retailer of the Year

Winner: Club Soda Tasting Room and Bar

This new permanent venue in London’s Covent Garden was the cause of much rapture from our judges. Having opened in December 2022 following a crowdfunding campaign, the store sells exclusively alcohol-free drinks as well as hosting masterclasses and events. Calling it a “contemporary, amazing-looking store that is hugely engaging” the judges loved its great product selection, saying “It’s a really brave thing to do. They tested it with a pop-up and it worked so they turned it into a permanent offering.” They applauded Club Soda’s positive message of mindful drinking and moderation rather than purely pushing an abstinence agenda.

Commended: EW Wines

Our judges felt strongly that they wanted to commend this Cornwall based store as it is not only the “exciting, metropolitan” ventures that are worth shouting about. EW Wines “knows its local market extremely well and caters to them through tastings and activities” and invests in its local community.

Shortlist:

Brunswick Fine Wines and Spirits
Club Soda Tasting Room, and
EW Wines

Online Retailer of the Year

Winner: The Whisky Exchange

Our judges called this outfit “a class act” and applauded its incredibly diverse range and “highly accessible, unstuffy” approach. The judges feel that this company has ploughed on, continuously reinventing itself and diversifying beyond whisky in respond to current trends for other spirits such as Tequila.

Commended: Ocado

The judges were full of praise for Ocado’s “fantastically adaptive, technical website” and exceptional service delivering “honest, decent, commercial wines”. The judging panel was also impressed by its pivot to partner with Marks & Spencer’s wines, which they felt was a strong fit for Ocado.

Commended: Master of Malt

The judges were keen to commend this company for being “much more than an e-commerce site” and for maximising all their digital channels with a 60% increase in engagement across all social channels during the last 12 months.

Shortlist:

BlockBar
Master of Malt
Ocado Retail
The Whisky Exchange

Fine Wine Retailer of the Year

Winner: Bordeaux Index

Calling this platform “all encompassing”, the judges felt that the customer experience at Bordeaux Index is “unparalleled” in the market. And while they recognised that Bordeaux Index is a much bigger business than the other entries in this category, it was not its size but its achievements within the last year that they wanted to applaud. Record sales saw Bordeaux Index trade 244,000 bottles in 2022, worth £130 million, with new offices opened in Miami and Beijing; proof that the company is continuing to grow and evolve.

Commended: Brunswick Fine Wine & Spirits

The judges wanted to recognise this Brighton-based retailer for its place in the community and for its strategy of making fine wines available by the bottle, with prices starting from just £20.

Shortlist:

Bordeaux Index
Brunswick Fine Wines & Spirits
Majestic Wine

Multiple Retailer of the Year

Winner: Aldi

Aldi demonstrated impressive growth and outperformance in the wine and spirits category. English wine has been a particular success for the retailer, with their BWS team introducing a new English Rosé and Pinot Noir Rosé.

Commended: Majestic Wine

Majestic demonstrated exceptional performance in a challenging trading period. Despite the difficulties faced by the industry, Majestic surpassed its sales target and achieved record market share. Their focus on people, product, and proposition played a significant role in their achievements with significant investments being made on new stores, sustainability initiatives and the introduction of new ranges, such as Majestic Pringle Bay, which was introduced to offset the Sauvignon shortage and to raise money for children in South African farming communities.

Retail Buying Team of the Year

Winner: Majestic

The judges were impressed with a buying team that has refreshed over 20% of their range in the last year, introducing 240 new wines. They turned the challenges of light harvests in New Zealand and Burgundy into an opportunity with an increased North Italian offering, driving a large increase in Gavi di Gavi and Soave sales.

In the past year they launched the Majestic Buying Academy a two-year learning and development programme that teaches colleagues crucial skills such as negotiation, supplier management and range planning, while supporting them through WSET qualifications.

Trading platform of the Year

Winner: Bordeaux Index for LiveTrade

This year’s winner is a wine trading platform which commits to firm bids and offers on an ongoing basis, bringing instant liquidity on almost 1,000 of the world’s top fine wines. Called LiveTrade, it’s a boon to collectors, investors and trade players who want to sell stocks without resorting to often slow broking processes. And, unlike many merchants and platforms, this is not limited to wine in one specific storage location; rather LiveTrade facilitates the selling of wine from any bonded storage location as long as the wine is in pristine condition. According to Bordeaux Index, this helps to break down established, market-limiting barriers for trading fine wine, ensuring that liquidity can continue to grow.

LOGISTICS AND DISTRIBUTION AWARDS

Logistics Company of the Year

Winner: STI Internazionale

It has been an incredible year for this specialist Italian logistics company. Not only have their imports from Italy to UK increased 24% but they have carried an increased 74% in British whisky, gin and beer exports for the Italian market, with a dedicated Scotch Whisky service between Glasgow and EU starting shortly. Their success has come from a focus on helping SMEs to navigate the challenging post-Brexit landscape.

Commended: Vinlog by Kuehne+Nagel

VinLog offers a seamless overseas door-to-door translation service of bulk wine, bottles wine, spirits and drinks. Their order management system, myKN, tries to simplify and standardise the process for their customers, allowing them to manage the whole process including PO placement, exploring shipping options for fastest or most sustainable vessels, quotations and tracking.

Best Wine Distributor

Winner: North South Wines

In just nine years, this relative newcomer has grown to become a £30m a year business, selling 18m bottles per year profitably, all whilst managing to maintain a strong focus on sustainability, employee welfare and customer satisfaction.

Commended: LCB

Our judges wanted to commend a UK business that holds in excess of 9 million cases across more than 450,000 SKUs that has managed to increase its capacity through reviving the historical Drakelow tunnels and transforming them into a state-of-the-art storage facility, all whilst preserving the site’s historical significance.

Supply Chain Initiative of the Year

Winner: Vinlog by Kuehne+Nagel

VinLog is the specialist wine and spirits division of logistics titan Kuehne & Nagel. Our judges were impressed by Kuehne & Nagel’s commitment to a zero carbon future through its 2026 Roadmap, which takes a science based approach to analysing methods for minimising and offsetting carbon emissions across their whole business, including their suppliers’ transportation services. By the end of this year alone, they expect at least 60% of their fleet to be electrified, having invested in a large electric fleet.

Commended: STI Internazionale

Since the Brexit Free Trade Agreement came into effect, many Italian distributors have struggled with the increased regulatory burden required to import Scotch whisky and other British spirits and craft beers. As an authorised customer broker with an existing door-to-door service from UK to Italy, STI was in a unique position to help relieve Italian importers of this workload. In May 2022, they launched the only first weekly export groupage service to the EU, the only one dedicated to UK alcoholic beverages available in the market.

Commended: The Online Tasting Company

Our judges wanted to commend a company that developed a product that became a necessity during COVID, a sustainable, cost-effective and automated way to make mailable wine samples. Using just 2.5 grammes of aluminium, their pouches provide a shelf life of at least 6 months for £1 per sample.

COMPANY AWARDS

On-Trade Supplier of the Year

This year, bearing in mind the different size and nature of the companies shortlisted, we decided to split the award in two, with an award for a lower turnover specialist operator and another for a bigger business with a broader scope.

Winner: Liberty Wines

Described by the judges as “hard to fault”, and “the one to beat”, Liberty was the unaminous winner of On-trade Supplier of the Year for 2023. Showing no signs of complacency, this is a business that has continued to grow in turnover and profitability in the past 12 months despite the challenging conditions for its customers. Indeed, one judge described the business as a beacon for others, suggesting rival suppliers “learn from Liberty”. As a profitable business, Liberty can afford to invest in staff training and eco-minded initiatives, which is has done, with impressive results. Regarding the latter, the judges were impressed to see that Liberty has been Carbon Neutral Plus since 2021, while in 2022, having installed solar panels at its London HQ, Liberty is now generating more energy than it uses. Among other recent developments was Liberty’s introduction last year of seven new regional delivery hubs to facilitate higher frequency deliveries nationwide, while the supplier added more than 80 new wines in 2022, meaning that it now offers over 1750 wines from 388 producers in 25 countries. Finally, having added two new educators to its team in 2022, Liberty trained 4,125 customers online, and 1,789 in person.

Winner (specialist): Graft Wine Company

Among smaller turnover on-trade suppliers it was Graft Wines that wowed the judges. Aside from the fact the business was doing very well in a difficult market, the judges were impressed by Graft’s smartphone app, described as a ‘sales rep in your pocket’, which enables the supplier to be on-hand with detailed information for time-poor staff all across the UK. Referred to as a “benchmark” in its sector, the judges called Graft “clever” and “dynamic”, with a “commitment to sustainability and organic producers”.

Finally, the judges noted the milestone reached by Graft in 2023, with the 12 months to March this year representing the company’s strongest year ever, with 180 new accounts and trading from new business 12% ahead of budget – all of which has been achieved at a time when growth can be hard to find.

Shortlist:

Graft Wine Company
Hallgarten & Novum Wines
Liberty Wines
Majestic Commercial
Speciality Drinks

Drinks Company of the Year

Winner: Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Despite extremely stiff competition, it was Hallgarten/Novum that most impressed our judges in 2023. Applauded for its growth, wine range, ethos, eco-credentials and staff, Hallgarten/Novum was declared a beacon as a profitable, ethical and environmentally-minded business. Indeed, it was the latter that help make Hallgarten/Novum stand apart in this year’s awards. In 2022 the company initiated a major project – the ‘Hallgarten Eco Standard’ – to analyse the sustainability of our suppliers. Measuring against four categories with 41 criteria, each with weighted scoring, the standard is now incorporated into Hallgarten’s list, as well as being shared with the wider trade.

Besides this recent development, Hallgarten has strengthened its portfolio, with a list of 1,200 wines from 192 producers in 24 countries. In the last 12 months, the company has added 220 new wines including La Rioja Alta, while boosting its social media following by 17% across all platforms.

The company is on course to become Corporate Carbon Neutral by 2024, and looks set to generate sales and profit growth of 10% and 15% respectively in 2023.

Such achievements were set against the backdrop of a longstanding business with strong values, ensuring customer and staff loyalty is second to none.

Shortlist:

Bancroft Wines
Hallgarten & Novum Wines
Liberty Wines
Viña Luis Felipe Edwards

PERSONALITY AWARDS

Young Achiever of the Year

Winners: Joyce & Raissa De Haas

Born and raised in the Netherlands – the birthplace of gin – Double Dutch’s twin co-founders Joyce and Raissa grew up inspired by the world of drinks. They soon realised that while spirits had become more vibrant and diverse than ever, the world of tonics and mixers had scarcely changed. In response to this, Joyce and Raissa set themselves the challenge of shaking up the mixer market by crafting their own innovations whilst at University. Double Dutch has grown 80% YOY since 2016, and revenue has grown to 65% CAGR from 2016 to 2022 with over 40 million bottles sold in the last 3 years alone.
The company is now carbon neutral and actively pursuing B-Corp status. They were the very first to market with their dual flavoured – quinine free – Cucumber & Watermelon and Pomegranate & Basil, as well as their Cocktail Sodas. In the past 12 months, they have brought their Refreshing Lemonade, Elderflower Tonic and Pink Grapefruit Soda to market, for the latter partnering with tequila brands for the trending ‘Paloma’ cocktail – and launching with an exclusive can format listing into Waitrose.

In the UK they’ve grown on-trade distribution by 63% in the last year alone. Double Dutch is currently listed in over 5,000 venues and major grocers, including Waitrose, Tesco and Ocado.
A multi-million-pound funding round was recently closed by the founders at the end of 2022 to fuel growth for the business’ ambitions to triple growth by 2025 with a forecasted 2023 revenue growth of 126% vs 2022.

Woman of the Year Award

Winner: Maria Lopez

Credited for turning around Majestic Commercial – the group’s on-trade arm – our Woman of the Year for 2023 has made a lasting and sizeable impact on this UK business in a short space of time. Joining Majestic Commercial in March 2022, Maria Lopez has overseen double-digit sales growth, bucking the trend in a market that is down 17% on a three-year average. She has played a key role in establishing a range of 174 lines exclusive to Majestic Commercial, which now account for 64% of its on-trade sales, while proving highly influential in the expansion of Majestic Commercial’s customer base, notably through her work in helping Manchester City Football Club achieve their ambitious goal of building the best wine list in all stadia globally.

Maria is dedicated to educating the next generation of young talent and was the architect of the Commercial Development Programme launched by Majestic in late 2022.

In addition to this, Maria has acted as a mentor to high-potential colleagues selected as Majestic’s Rising Stars. Commenting on her achievements, the judges expressed their respect for Maria’s breadth of skills, and immediate impact on Majestic from a commercial perspective. Described as “a role model” with a background in the beer business, the judges were also brimming with praise for Maria’s ability to “galvanise a team”, and bring a professional approach to all aspects of her role.

Man of the Year

Winner: Ken Forrester

Our Man of the Year, Ken Forrester, is a well-known figure to anyone in the drinks trade with even a passing interest in South Africa’s wine scene. This year sees him celebrate the 25th anniversary since he founded the Chenin Blanc Association, and gearing up for the 30th anniversary since he founded his own winery, making him a well-established figure in our trade. A globetrotter who has passionately promoted his country’s wines at home and abroad with infectious enthusiasm and great generosity, our recipient is a much-liked, hard-working, high-achiever. Aside from building his own brand – Ken Forrester Wines – and raising the profile of the Chenin Blanc grape, he has done so much for charitable causes in his home nation of South Africa, while mentoring many a winemaker.

Now drawing up a succession plan for the brand he founded, Ken is only just considering stepping back from the daily routine of running a wine business. However, you can be sure he won’t be slowly down, and will continue to do so much for the industry he loves, the grape he’s made famous, and the charities that need his charismatic support. As one of the judges said about Ken, “He may appear laid-back, but he is clearly a towering force.”

Our sponsors

Thank you to our judges, who did a first-rate job sifting through the entries and debating the shortlisted names via Microsoft Teams.

Thank you to our sponsors this year, who are Sparflex – the supporter of our English wine industry packaging awards – and Glencairn Crystal – the supplier of our beautiful trophies.