Supermarket Sweep: Own Brand Wines Clean Up at November International Wine Challenge Tasting

December 4, 2013

The International Wine Challenge announces its medal winning supermarket own-brand wines from Tranche 1 of IWC 2014.

 
The International Wine Challenge today announces the supermarket own-brand medal winners from the first tasting session of the 2014 competition.
  • Morrisons struck Gold with its Signature Alsace Gewurztraminer 2012 that retails at £7.99 and was the only supermarket own brand wine to win a Gold medal.
  • Sainsbury’s, ASDA, and Marks and Spencer all received Silver medals for own-brand wines.
  • Sainsbury’s received three Silver medals, for its Taste the Difference Vintage Cava Brut 2011 (RRP £9.99), its Taste the Difference Riesling 2013 (RRP £9.99) and its Fairtrade Sauvignon Blanc 2013 (RRP £7.99).
  • ASDA’s Extra Special Marques del Norte Rioja Reserva 2009 (£8.50), was also awarded a Silver medal.
  • Marks and Spencer, which was named the IWC 2013 Supermarket of the Year this summer continued to impress the judges with its own brand range, from which 22 wines were awarded Silver medals including four sparkling wines; Josef Chromy from Tasmania, and three champagnes, Charles Orban Blancs de Noirs, Louis Chaurey, and Didier Ducos Absolu Meunier (all non vintage).
  • Marks and Spencer also received 23 Bronze medals, giving it the highest medal count from a supermarket own-brand range.
  • Eight Bronze medals also went to Morrisons, Sainsbury’s received five, Waitrose picked up three, and ASDA and The Co-operative Group were awarded two Bronze medals each.
  • After 30 years, the International Wine Challenge has made a fundamental change to its judging schedule, and will now be hosting two separate tastings throughout the year to accommodate the different production and sales schedules across the industry, giving winemakers a greater choice of when to enter their wines so not all supermarkets or winemakers entered the first tranche.
  • Tranche one has been added to the annual schedule and took place at the end of last month, and Tranche two will happen in April 2014, as in previous years.

Charles Metcalfe, Co-Chairman of the International Wine Challenge commented:

“We’ve discovered some tremendous wines during this brand new tranche for the 2014 season. It’s great that such good value, high quality wines are readily available at supermarkets, and if shoppers see the IWC sticker on a bottle they can instantly trust the quality of the wine inside. The quality of supermarket wines is improving year on year, and these medal winners will be an instant hit with consumers.”

Charles Metcalfe continued:

“By hosting two separate tasting events across the year, we are ensuring that no matter where or when a wine is produced, it will be given the best possible chance for success. For some wines, six months of additional ageing in bottle will be the difference between medal bands, and the implications of this could be huge for a winemaker. The quality of wine we saw at this new tranche has been excellent and we’re very excited about this new, improved schedule for the International Wine Challenge.”

For full list of results please visit  the International Wine Challenge website: //www.internationalwinechallenge.com/

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