This is the fifth Quality Drink Awards (QDA) since alcoholic drinks were separated from the Quality Food Awards in 2006 to give makers of beers, ciders, wines, spirits and liqueurs their own platform to display their innovative skills.
Beer and cider remain brand-dominated product areas in the awards, while for wines and spirits, there is more of a battle between the brands and supermarket own-label.
Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons, were the big supermarkets winners for wine, with the discounters again providing good quality and good value options.
The triumph for BB & R in the liqueurs category, with its King’s Ginger Liqueur, shows the QDA is not just about recently launched drinks as it was originally formulated more than 100 years ago for King Edward VII.
The overall Platinum Q award went to Sheppy’s Cider for its Sheppy’s Oak Matured Vintage Reserve.
The winners were:
White Wines up to £4.99
Dogfish Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (Netto)
Macon Villages (Aldi) Highly Commended
White wines up to £ 9.99
Invivo Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (Invivo Wines)
Vouvray Clos Palet 2008 (Morrisons) Highly Commended
White Wines over £9.99
Pouilly Fuisse 2008 (Morrisons)
Taste the Difference Chablis Premier Cru 2008 (Sainsbury’s) Highly Commended
Sparkling Wines up to £9.99
Phillipe Michel Cremant du Jura 2007 (Aldi)
Taste the Difference Prosecco (Sainsbury’s) Highly Commended
Champagne Vintage
Taste the Difference 2004 (Sainsbury’s)
Champagne Non Vintage
Sainsbury’s Blanc de Blancs (Sainsbury’s)
Rosé Wines up to £9.99
Taste the Difference Provence Rosé (Sainsbury’s)
Extra Special Chilean Shiraz Rosé 2009 (Asda) Highly Commended
Red Wines up to £4.99
House Côtes du Rhône (Sainsbury’s)
Red Wines up to £9.99
Extra Special Merlot 2009 (Asda)
Bushland Wine Makers Selection Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2006 (Aldi) Highly Commended
Red Wines over £9.99
Taste the Difference Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Sainsbury’s)
Extra Special Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2008 (Asda) Highly Commended
Fortified Wines
Morrisons Reserve Port (Morrisons)
Lagers
Steinhauser Lager (Aldi)
Ales
Admiral’s Ale (St Austell Brewery)
St Edmunds (Greene King) Highly Commended
Wainwright Golden Ale (Daniel Thwaites) Highly Commended
Speciality Beers
Blandford Fly (Hall & Woodhouse)
Ciders
Sheppy’s Oak Matured Vintage Reserve (Sheppy’s)
Aspall Premier Cru Suffolk Cyder (Aspall) Highly Commended
RTD’s
VK Lemon (Global Brands)
Whiskies
Dun Leire Single Malt eight-year-old Irish whiskey (Sainsbury’s)
Ben Nevis 25-year-old single cask malt whisky (Ben Nevis Distillery) Highly Commended
White Spirits
Taste the Difference Blackfriars Gin (Sainsbury’s)
U’Luvka Vodka (The Brand Distillery Ltd) Highly Commended
Dark Spirits
Taste the Difference XO Cognac (Sainsbury’s)
Liqueurs and Speciality Spirits
The King’s Ginger Liqueur (BB & R Spirits)
Platinum Q
Sheppy’s Oak Matured Vintage Reserve (Sheppy’s Cider)
