“The biggest impact of winning an award is having an independent assessment of the quality of your wine that we can present to our customers. The feedback from the judges also helps us look at ways to improve our small niche brand.”
That is how David Stannard, owner of Paradise Restored in Bordeaux, describes the impact of winning a gold medal in the 2024 London Wine Competition.
He is not alone. Owners of wine, beer and spirits businesses all over the world have been able to use the success they have in the respective London Competitions to take their products to another level, particularly in how they can introduce and talk about them to potential customers. After all winning a medal in an internationally respected drinks competition is a third party endorsement from your peers that your brand is worthy of attention.
Some of the spirits winners in the 2024 London Spirits Competition
The entry process for the 2025 London Competitions is now open with super early bird rates for those able to enter by August 31, 2024. The judging for the competition takes place next spring on March 26-27 2025 in central London.
That is when some of the UK’s leading and award winning drinks buyers, bartenders, master sommeliers, masters of wine come together to help judge the awards. Most of those taking part will have some direct buying responsibility and can determine the commercial viability of any product entered.
Individuals that are tasked every day in deciding which products and brands are going to go on back bars and on to drinks lists on some of the most influential venues and bars in the world.
The quality of the judging panel means the results of the London Competitions are taken seriously by the wider industry - as this testimonial from Jenny and Ben Clark, owners of Chalgrove Artisan Distillery in Oxfordshire shows: “Retailers and wholesalers who were ‘indifferent’ to our products are now queuing up at ‘our door’. The curiosity is has caused amongst the trade and public has increased our sales dramatically.”
Downpour Gin was another success story in the London Spirits Competition
Downpour Gin which won the Spirits of the Year award in 2024 said: “I can point to several new partnerships as a direct result of our LSC medals. This includes a listing with a high-end UK-wide department store whose buyer was on the judging panel. This also includes the opening up of a new export market after we were approached by an importer who had seen coverage of our success.”
Helgi Sigurdsson and Audur Vala Gunnarsdóttir, KHB Brewery & Distillery in Iceland, added: “I was looking for some competitions to enter for our products as I wanted to get comparison with other brands. I knew we were doing some good stuff but wanted the international recognition which we could show to buyers and distributors.
“First we entered our KHB GIN in 2022. We received a silver medal and instantly the sales number grew here in Iceland. We then entered again with our gin in 2023 and also our moonshine, Landi. The gin received another silver medal and the Landi got bronze. Then our beers were sent in 2024 also got a lot of attention as we received one gold and three silvers.”
KHB Brewery & Distillery owners Helgi Sigurdsson and Audur Vala Gunnarsdóttir
The Aura distillery in Croatia picked up seven awards in the 2024 competition. Its head of marketing Anna Pernic said: “Awards at competitions like the London Spirits Competition are a great basis for upgrading the brand, giving it greater visibility, greater presence in the media and certainly increased the sale of the product itself.”
“The competition has very comprehensible written rules and the entire procedure is user friendly, which we will surely register our products in the future.”
Judging process
The judging process is broken down into three main criteria: Q (Quality Score) + Value Score (V) + Package Score (P) = London Wine Competition Score.
A separate weighted score is given for each of the three parts of the judging process with “quality” getting twice the weight of there categories.
- Quality score: marked out of 100.
- Value score: marked out of 100
- Packaging score: marked out of 100.
Whats new for the 2025 London Competitions
Mattia Scarpazza is one of the new ambassadors for the awards
The eighth edition of the London Wine, Spirits, and Beer Competitions will be introducing regional and category ambassadors who will be tasked with promoting the awards to their peers in the trade and to consumers. They have been chosen in order to promote the awards in target countries including France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, as well as growing markets in Asia and South America. The competitions will also look tocollaborate with regional and country wine, spirits, and beer associations worldwide to help introduce the awards to their members.
The ambassadors include:
- Mattia Scarpazza: ambassador for Italian and Chilean wine categories.
- Marco Stella: ambassador for France and Italy wine categories.
Adriana Valentini will also be an ambassador for the London Competitions
- Adriana Valentini: ambassador for Italy and the UK.
- Chiara Sieni: ambassador for Italy and the UK.
- Gaurav Dixit: expert for Thailand.
The awards will also be promoted at major events during the year including dedicated stands at ProWein 2025 and Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris 2025 and other trade expos around the world.
Winners in the 2025 competition will also be asked to take part in press activities and conduct interviews with the international and UK trade press.
The competition will also include buyers from leading importers and distributors for the first time so that brand owners get a chance to showcase their products in front of some of the key gatekeepers in the country.
How to enter
To enter go to the separate websites and follow the entry process. Super early bird pricing ends on August 31.
- London Wine Competition.
- London Spirits Competition.
- London Beer Competition. Competitions to learn more on how to enter.
Fee schedule
London Wine and London Beer Competition
£90 Super Early Bird - May 1 2024 to August 31 2024
£120 Early Bird - September 1 2024 to 30 November 30 2024
£140 Regular - December 1 2024 to 28 February 28 2025
London Spirits Competition
£110 Super Early Bird - May 1 2024 to August 31 2024
£140 Early Bird - September 1 2024 to November 30 2024
£180 Regular - December 1 2024 to February 28 2025
