International Wine Challenge announces merchant awards

Marks & Spencer and Majestic are the places to shop for wine according to the results of the IWC Merchant Awards which were announced this week. M&S won best Supermarket of the Year while Majestic took the trophy for best High Street Chain. But Tesco pipped Laithwaites and the Wine Society to the post to win the Best Wine Club and Berry Bros & Rudd scooped best Direct Merchant for its online shop and the overall award for best Wine Merchant of the Year. OZ Clarke & James May were awarded Wine Personality of the Year for their TV series Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure which took viewers on road trips through the wine regions of France and California and helped to make wine cool amongst a new generation of drinkers.