The full results of the 2011 DWWA Retailer and Readers' Awards were announced on 7 September 2011. Here are the winners...
2011 Shortlist – Winners in bold
Supermarket of the Year (3)
Marks & Spencer
Morrison’s
Waitrose
National Wine Merchant of the Year (6)
Armit
Berry Bros. & Rudd
Laithwaites
Majestic
Slurp.co.uk
The Wine Society
London Wine Merchant of the Year (6)
Harrods
Jeroboams
Lea and Sandeman
Philglas & Swiggot
Roberson
The Sampler
Regional Wine Merchant of the Year (6)
D Byrne
Noel Young
The Secret Cellar
Stone Vine Sun
Tanners
WoodWinters Wines and Whiskies
Specialist Merchant of the Year (4)
Leon Stolarski Fine Wines
Les Caves des Pyrene
SA Wines Online
SWIG
Innovative Merchant of the Year Award (5)
Artisan and Vine
Hanging Ditch
Planet of the Grapes
Vagabond
Vinoteca
Readers’ award: Best local wine merchant
The Sampler
Readers’ award: Best national wine merchant
Majestic Wine
Who? What? Where? When?
Each year, Decanter seeks out the finest, most popular wine retailers in the UK. Their performance is judged by a panel of industry experts based on quality and innovation over the past year – and by you, the readers.
The retailer awards are split into six categories:
• Supermarket of the year
• National Wine Merchant of the Year
• London Wine Merchant of the Year
• Regional Wine Merchant of the Year
• Specialist Wine Merchant of the Year
• Innovative Wine Merchant of the Year
And the nominations are…
It’s you, the readers, that make the call on who gets nominated for what. We ask you to put forward your favourite wine retailers and from this a shortlist is drawn up.
Decanter then asks the shortlisted retailers to submit detailed information on their consumer activity over the past year, focusing on the quality and value of their range, customer service and innovations implemented throughout the year.
Based on this evidence our expert judging panel then discuss each retailer before eventually allocating scores and even visiting one or two retailers for a closer inspection.
Meet the judges:
• Anthony Rose (Chairman) – Wine columnist, The Independent
• Stephen Brook – Contributing Editor, Decanter
• Christelle Guibert – Tastings Director, Decanter
• Tom Cannavan – Publisher/editor www.wine-pages.com
• Allan Cheesman – Industry consultant; 38 years in the wine and spirit industry
The Readers’ Award: The ultimate accolade…
…awarded by Decanter subscribers. In addition to the judges’ verdict, we ask Decanter subscribers to cast their vote for their favourite wine retailers.
In the July issue of Decanter magazine, we gave subscribers an exclusive reference number to vote online in two categories:
– Readers’ Award for Best National Wine Merchant
– Readers’ Awards for Best Local Wine Merchant
The award goes to…
The results of both the Retailer and Readers’ Awards are announced at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards presentation dinner in the Royal Opera House on 7 September and also appear in the October issue of the Decanter magazine alongside the full results of the 2011 DWWA competition.
2010 winners:
• Supermarket of the Year – Waitrose
• Wine Merchant of the Year – Majestic
• Small London Wine Merchant of the Year – Roberson
• Small Regional Wine Merchant of the Year – D. Byrne & Co.
• Specialist Merchant of the Year – SA Wines Online Ltd
• Innovation of the Year – Berry Bros. & Rudd
• The Readers’ Award: Best Large Wine Merchant – Majestic
• The Readers’ Award: Best Small Wine Merchant – The Sampler
Written by Matt Chappell
