Virgin Wines Scoops Innovator of the Year Award
We are delighted to announce that we have been named as “Innovator of the Year” at the International Wine Challenge Merchant of the Year Awards.
The award was presented on Thursday night at the International Wine Challenge Awards Dinner and Summer Ball held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
Innovation is an area that we’ve focused a lot on recently and our submission into the Innovator of the Year category was based on our Virtual Winery project. As those of you who took part in the Virtual Winery will know, the aim of our Virtual Winery is to bring together a group of wine lovers in the creation of a new wine, via the power of the internet. Virtual Winemakers are then given the opportunity to actively play a part in the decisions that shape the future of a wine through a series of democratic votes. Last August 700 Virtual Winemakers came together to help create a red wine in conjunction with Finca Manzanos winery based in Rioja, Spain. The project culminated in May when the wine, which was named Doncella Roja (meaning red maiden) by majority vote, was completed.
Commenting on the award, Jay our MD said:
“We’re delighted to win the award for Innovator of the Year at the International Wine Challenge Merchant of the Year Awards. We are constantly striving for new ideas and technologies and this award is a true reflection of all the hard work and effort put in by the team to do just that. Our Virtual Winery is one of several recent innovations and came about from our desire to make wine as fun and exciting as possible, while engaging customers by involving them at every step of the winemaking process. Our most recent Virtual Winery project was a resounding success and we’re over the moon that it has been recognised at the prestigious IWC awards. We’re looking forward to launching another Virtual Winery again soon.
