International Wine & Spirit Competition Celebrates 45th Anniversary

On 13th November, the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) celebrated its 45th anniversary with a lavish awards ceremony in London, where Encirc sponsored two awards: Retail Wine Buying Team of the Year and Winemaker of the Year. Fiacre O’Donnell, Encirc’s marketing manager, gives the lowdown from the event.

Henry Powles, Peter Eaton, Peter Fitzgerald and I joined more than 500 guests at the Guildhall, London for the event which is widely acknowledged as the most prestigious and independent contest of its type in the world.

Each year, the judging of the various entries begins in February and runs through to September, with the finalists attending the yearly banquet in November.

The evening started in style with a tasting of more than 200 wines and spirits from around the world, all of which are award-winning.

After the dinner, the awards were handed out. The Retail Buying Team of the Year award was won by M&S, and the Winemaker of the Year award was presented to Champagne P&C Heidsieck.

Neil McGuigan, Australian Vintage CEO, one of our long established customers, was named the 2015 President. We wish Neil all the best in his role.

A number of Encirc customers were among the winners who were honoured for their fantastic wine and spirits products.

As ever, everyone had a great night. I’d like to say a big thank you to IWSC and an even bigger well done to all the winners. Here’s to next year!