What winning a WineGB award can do for your business
Since theWineGB Awards were first launched in 2017, they have become the benchmark for high quality English and Welsh sparkling wine. In the words of Jim Rankin, Commercial Director and WineGB Awards headline sponsor, Rankin Brothers & Sons:
“The awards encourage the drive to ever greater standards and they help elevate the status of wines produced in England and Wales to customers all around the globe.”
For producers, they are a powerful platform for recognition, credibility and growth but don’t just take our word for it – here a few winners explain how the awards have benefited their businesses both commercially and reputationally and why entering should be a part of your annual strategy.
1. Immediate credibility
“The Gold award for Best Still Rosé at the WineGB [2025] Awards, brought instant credibility to our brand, significantly boosting visibility and helping us secure new accounts across the industry.”
Billy Sengupta, Co-founder and CMO, Cobham House
In a fast-growing and increasingly competitive UK wine market, third-party endorsement carries real weight. Whether it’s a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal, or a trophy on the awards night, award recognition signals quality to buyers, press and consumers alike.
Medal stickers can be used across bottle labels and point-of-sale materials instantly setting wines apart from others on the shelf, while medals can open doors to new listings, from independent merchants as well as national and international distributors.
For newer or smaller vineyards, this external validation can be particularly valuable — helping to establish credibility alongside more established names.
2. Increased visibility across the industry
“Winning the Trophy for the Best Still English Rosé in the WineGB Awards [2024] was a great endorsement for our Railway Hill Rosé, amplifying its presence in the UK rosé category and providing wonderful recognition of all the hard work put in by our team to create this delicate style in what was a challenging vintage.”
Ruth Simpson, Co-founder, Simpsons
The WineGB Awards attract significant attention from media, trade and consumers. Being part of that conversation can dramatically raise a vineyard’s profile and for many, it’s one of the few opportunities each year to gain national visibility within a crowded market.
Just as importantly, awards provide a compelling story and something tangible to communicate to customers beyond tasting notes and technical detail when giving tours and tastings.
3. Benchmarking and Feedback
“Not only are the results very often widely taken up by the UK press and many sommeliers follow the results on social media; so helpful if selling wine into the on trade, but more importantly is to benchmark your wines against your peers. If you don’t know how your wines stand up to the English competition, there is less incentive to strive to improve. I believe continuous improvement across the industry is of the utmost importance.”
Justin Langham, of Langham, Supreme Champion 2025
Beyond medals, the judging process itself offers value. While wine is always subjective, the awards provide an opportunity to benchmark your wines against others. This helps producers ensure they are on the right track stylistically and qualitatively, while feedback can inform future vintages.
It’s not just about winning — it’s about understanding where your wines sit in an evolving category.
4. Boost team morale
“Winning a WineGB award is a great boost for the whole team. It’s brilliant external validation and we use this in our staff training to communicate the quality of our wines, which is then shared with our customers.”
Jose Quintana, Winemaker, Vagabond
Winemaking is a long game. From vineyard management to harvest, production and release, the process can take years – and much of the work happens behind the scenes That’s why awards can have such a strong internal impact.
Medals provide a moment to celebrate the team’s hard work and dedication, and to share that success with staff, partners and customers. For smaller operations in particular, that morale boost can be invaluable.
5. Supports the wider UK wine category
“When we planted Kit’s Coty vineyard, we only dreamed of the quality it could produce and revealing this has been one of the joys of being a part of the birth of a brand new wine region.”
Josh Donaghay-Spire, Head Winemaker, Chapel Down, Supreme Champion 2024
Entering the awards doesn’t just benefit individual producers – it also strengthens the UK wine industry as a whole by showcasing the breadth and quality of UK wine, raising standards across the industry and building a stronger collective reputation domestically and internationally.
By entering, producers contribute to a bigger story – one that continues to position the UK as a serious global wine region.