Laithwaites celebrates its LARGEST International Wine Challenge Medal Haul!)

I’m delighted! All the hard work put in by our dedicated buying team to hunt out the very best wines has paid off … Laithwaites has triumphed yet again in this year’s International Wine Challenge held in London last month. In total we clocked up 242 medals for our wines – the most awards we’ve won so far in this big competition – including 19 Golds and an impressive 42 Silvers.

The IWC is one of the largest wine competitions in the world, and each year wine merchants and producers make sure that the date is marked clearly in their diaries, ready to send in their best wines for judging. It’s probably one of the most prestigious too, with a panel made up of international and UK judges from across the wine industry – top journalists, critics, buyers and winemakers, all passionate about this fantastic product.

Only the very best wines triumph! All wines entered into the competition are tasted “blind”. There are 1000s upon 1000s of entries! And there is palpable excitement amongst the trade while anxiously waiting for the results to come out. After all, these awards are very highly regarded and sought-after.

So it’s a great pat on the back for us, but even better news for you as a customer – you can be sure that the wines we offer are the best. We love all our wines and only stock the ones we believe are first rate, but it’s always nice to know that the experts think so too!

And it’s always interesting to note which regions did well. This year France came out on top with 83 medals (2 Golds and 14 Silvers) – well, it is the spiritual home of wine after all – and Australia followed hot on its heels with 56, including 7 Golds and 12 Silvers. Next up were Spain (33 medals, of which 6 Golds and 1 Silver), Chile (21 medals, of which 1 Gold and 4 Silvers) and Italy (21 medals, of which 3 Golds and 5 Silvers).

What does all this mean? The great Old World producers from countries like Spain and France are still the ones to beat, but the New World offers some seriously good buys. In short, the world of wine is very much alive and kicking. I’ll drink to that!

Many of our winning wines are brand new and will be arriving in our cellars shortly. Keep your eyes peeled for offers on these fabulous wines – they make for some of the most delicious, best quality and top value drinking around!

“This amazing result is a vindication of the extra efforts our Laithwaites buying team go to in their quest for the highest quality wines.”, said Peter Greet, Laithwaites Head of Buying. “To have that recognised by such an elite group of international tasters is going to give all Laithwaites staff and customers something to celebrate – and it looks like we’ve won more top awards than any other company in the country”
Peter Greet, Laithwaites Head of Buying.