About us
About the IWC Merchant Awards
The IWC UK Merchant Awards were launched in 1991 to recognise and reward the outstanding achievements of the UK wine trade. Not only do they reward the work of merchants, educators, distributors and agents, all those who contribute to bringing the joy of wine to the UK consumer, but they also generate promotional and business opportunities for the winners.
Following a period of consultation with the industry we were asked to focus on 2 key areas, firstly around the simplicity of the entry process and secondly around feed-back. The reworked awards scheme will achieve both of these points by firstly doing away with the “generic questions” and secondly by asking for data that is specific for the relevant category that is being entered.
The 2023 Awards have been completely overhauled to become more relevant in the post Covid industry. The entry process is streamlined allowing entrants to receive statistical feed-back on their performance in relationship to piers, which will be anonymous and provides equal benefit to all that enter.
The Awards are supported by an all-year round PR and social media campaign via the International Wine Challenge and through @incrediblewinechoice which last year reached over 500m consumers.
About International Wine Challenge
The International Wine Challenge (IWC) owned by William Reed, has been running for over three decades. What started out as judging a few wines around the kitchen table thirty years ago, has grown into the most respected and most meticulously judged wine competition in the world, known for its rigorous approach in assessing every wine blind and judging each for its faithfulness to style region, and vintage. Each wine is tasted by multiple judges in two entirely separate judging rounds before scores and medals are awarded. So, when you win an IWC medal, you know that your wine is truly exceptional.
Winning an IWC commendation, medal or trophy helps producers reach new markets, creates potential and increases sales and awareness. The marketing opportunities are second to none, with an all-year-round global trade and consumer PR and social media campaign @incrediblewinechoice talking about the winning wines and where and why to buy them.
Being involved also means being part of the IWC community where you can keep up to date with the wine fraternity through the IWC’s very own online insight-driven publication Canopy aimed specifically at producers.
Why enter?
Each year, we recognise the incredible achievements of the inspirational teams behind the UK’s most innovative wine retailing businesses.