People's Choice Wine Awards - the winners!

It's award season and Monday saw Hubby and I travel north to Manchester for the People's Choice Wine Awards - an event I have been part of as a Judge in Round 1 and a Supertaster judge in Round 2. 

It seemed like yesterday that we had taken the same journey by train, but it was actually last October. I had no idea what was about to happen other than I had been selected along with many others to judge a variety of wine in many categories.

Round 1 was a fabulous day, I met so many people, some starting out in the wine industry, others like myself who enjoy learning more about wine as well as enjoying the wine itself. 

A fabulous day with the other Round One judges. 

To my surprise and amazement I was selected as a Supertaster and asked to join the expert judges for Round 2. What an honour to be asked for my opinion about wine along side wine critics, journalists, tv presenters, restaurant owners - I did quite a lot of pinching that day.

The WSET students and Supertaster judges in Round 2

The Round 2 judges - what an honour. 

There are more details of the two judging days in my blog post People's Choice Wine Awards .... I was a judge .... 

It seemed an age before the shortlisted wines were announced - in fact only a few weeks but I couldn't wait to see which wines had been chosen and to see if I did recognise any .... we judged the wines blind so had no idea which wine we had in our glass. There was one wine in particular that I did think I had tasted before, it was a sauvignon blanc which is my favourite grape .... I later found out that is a wine I really enjoy and have presented it at one of my own wine tastings.

The Shortlist ... People's Choice Wine Awards has all the details of the shortlisted wine, you may spot some of your favourites. 

And so to the actual award night, held at The Comedy Store in Manchester with all the shortlisted wines available for tasting. It was so good to finally see the labels, Hubby and I were 'oh' and 'ah' ing  as there were wines we had either purchased previously or knew from other tasting events. 

The Shortlisted wines 

It was wonderful to meet with the Round 2 judges again and meet up with suppliers we have met previously especially Paso-Primero, Les Dauphins and The Wine Society. Our evening started with a cocktail made with Paso Vermouth and Ludlow Gin - perfect.

It was an easy casual atmosphere with everyone enjoying the wines and food which included Joseph Heler cheese, a variety of pizza, Iberica ham, artisan bread from Barbakan Deli, macarons and stunning gateaux from Bisous Bisous. 

Iberica ham carving - a skill he started learning as a young child

Precisely cut, almost transparent thin slices 

And so to the reason for our Manchester visit - the winners! Moving into The Comedy Store's auditorium the host for the evening was John Warburton.

Janet Harrison, who founded the People's Wine Awards welcomed suppliers, producers, sponsors, judges and journalists before handing over to the award presenters Amelia Singer (Wine Educator and tv presenter on The Wine Show) and Kate Goodman (owner of Reserve Wines and tv presenter on Food and Drink)

Janet Harrison

John Warburton, Kate  and Amelia Singer 

The actual awards were something quite special, a hand drawn print for each category drawn by Tony Husband, cartoonist. Each one captures the essence of the category, a superb prize indeed.

Introductions made it was time for the presentations to begin .... and the winners are:

Fabulous Fizz - Best Champagne 

SDA Extra Special Louis Bernard Vintage Champagne 2007 

Fabulous Fizz - Sparkling Wine (UK)  

Leckford Estate Brut 2013

Lyme Bay Winery: Sparkling Rosé 2014

   

Fabulous Fizz - Sparkling Wine Rest of the World  

Bird in Hand Sparkling Pinot Noir 2017 

Simonnet-Febvre Crémant de Bourgogne

Food Friendly Wine - White for Light Meals 

Escarpment, The Edge Pinot Gris 2017 

Food Friendly Wine - White for Aromatic and Asian Cuisine   

The Society's Exhibition Alsace Gewurztraminer 2013

Food Friendly Wine - Whites for Light Meals with Sauces  

Cono Sur Bicicleta Viognier 2017 

Wolf Blass Yellow Label Chardonnay 

Food Friendly Wine - Red for Hearty Meals 

Orbitali Amarone Della Valpolicella 2013 

Food Friendly Wine - Red for  Easy Weekday Meals

Rabo de Gallo 

Food Friendly Wine - Red for Light Meals 

Albert Bichot Côteaux Bourguignons 2015

Out of the Ordinary

1000 Stories Bourbon Barrel Fermented Zinfandel 2016 

Boxing Clever 

Most Wanted Sauvignon Blanc 

Blow Out 

Wakefield The Pioneer Shiraz 2014 

Bargain Buys 

Viña Santico Carmenére 2017 

War of the Roses

Graham Norton's Own Pink by DesiGN Rosé 2018 

Heavy Duty

Blind Spot Rutherglen Muscat 

Girls Night In

Graham Norton's Own SauviGNon Blanc 2018 

Party Central

Escada Touriga Nacional 2016 

Sweets for my Sweet

Stanley Noble Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2014

Pizza Night

The Society's Barbera d'Asti Superiore 2015

One Man and His BBQ

St Andrews Shiraz 2016

Best Independent Wine Merchant - Lancaster Wine Co 

Best Supermarket - Aldi 

There was a real buzz in the room as each award was presented, a few cheers too. The evening was broadcast live on facebook, you can watch the video on People's Choice Wine Awards facebook page. 

If you'd like to know more about each of the winning wines and details of each of the categories sponsors pop over to the People's Choice Wine Awards web page, there is also more information about the judges.  

Huge congratulations to all the winners, especially Graham Norton as it was his Sauvignon Blanc I recognised. I noticed he has tweeted about his award too.  

People's Choice Wine Awards - the winners 

I have been so lucky to have been part of these awards, I've met so many people and discovered even more about wine. For me it's a hobby that I share with my superb Hubby: the wine industry is an amazing place and I'm honoured to occasionally dip my glass inside, cheers !