All the winners from The Drinks Business Awards 2025

Following a ceremony yesterday afternoon at the London Wine Fair, we can now reveal the winners in this year's Drinks Business Awards, which saw us celebrate a series of inspirational figures, from entrepreneurs to young achievers, along with a remarkable Brooklyn-based brewer.

The O-I: Expressions award for best design and packaging (wine)

Winner: Stranger & Stranger for Catena Zapata ‘Birth of Cabernet’ "A beautiful, finely-detailed, and original triptych label that made you want to grab the bottle and find out the story behind its design." Commendation: Denomination for Mullet Wines "A witty, quirky and memorable design for an Australian wine." Commendation: Denomination but for Nicole Oatley Wines "A beautiful design for an Australian wine, with a paired back and premium appearance." Shortlist:

• Catena Zapata for The Birth of Cabernet
• Mullet by Denomination
• Nicole Oatley Wines by Denomination
• La Petite Victoire Non Alcoholic by Stranger and Stranger

The O-I: Expressions award for best design and packaging (spirits)

Winner: Barenjager Honey Liqueur by Stranger and Stranger "A tactile, textured bottle that used its appearance to tell the brand’s story in a striking and memorable manner." Commendation: Cape Hauy Single Malt Whisky by Denomination "A striking design complete with a beautiful gift box inspired by the Doleritic formations in Tasmania – the source of this whisky." Shortlist

• Barenjager Honey Liqueur by Stranger and Stranger
• Cape Hauy Single Malt Whisky by Denomination
• Fielden Whisky Gift Box
• The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show 2025 Show Bottlings

Best Redesign

Winner: Cockburn’s Port Premium Range "A daring, modern and upmarket look for what was an old-fashioned design."

Best drinks accessory

Winner: The Puffy Bottle Holder by Veuve Clicquot "Sustainable, useful and beautiful, as well as clearly desirable, judging by its price on ebay."

Best launch of the year

Shortlist:

• London Cru and the Financial Times for Fearless Pink
• Mouton Cadet Fresh Collection in the USA
• Virgin Wines x Ocado

Commendation: Virgin Wines x Ocado "A commendable shop in shop experience uniting two food and wine powerhouses." Winner: Mouton Cadet Fresh Collection in the USA "A brilliant attempt at bringing US-based drinkers into Bordeaux – with impressive sales results among the younger target audience."

PR Company of the Year

Winner: Cube Communications "An impressive company that has masterminded a series of creative and highly-effective campaigns, particularly for Bordeaux and Wine Victoria." Commendation: Spritz "A PR firm with an amazing portfolio of clients, and an original and focused campaign for Neusiedlersee." Shortlist:

• Clarion Communications
• Cube Communications
• Spritz
• Stir
• Sunny Side Up

Trade Campaign of the Year

Winner: Cube Communications for Wine Victoria "A tight-budget campaign that laid the foundations for long term success about the wines of Australia’s smallest mainland state." Commendation: The Drinks Trust for Face It Together "An impressive campaign to raise £1 million for those in our trade who are facing financial difficulties." Shortlist:

• Alsace Wines by SLAM Communications
• Grandma Was Right - Cream Sherry Sunset
• The Drinks Trust
• Wine Victoria

Consumer Campaign of the Year

Winner: Italicus Rosolio Day "A comprehensive and international campaign promoting featuring Italicus-based cocktails for a full week in September." Commendation: Come Over October "A powerful and effective campaign to counteract the mounting wave of negative press surrounding wine." Shortlist

• Come Over October
• Cune, the Ambassadors of Spanish Wine
• Graham Norton’s Grape Escape to New Zealand with Invivo
• Italicus Rosolio Day

Social Media Campaign of the Year

Winner: Mouton Cadet in Paris "A professional and successful campaign that made Bordeaux sexy." Commendation: Chelsea & Co for International #SherryWeek "A polished campaign that delivered value for money for a difficult category." Shortlist:

• Chelsea & Co for International #SherryWeek
• Island Media for Just One Bottle with Wines of Ukraine
• McBride Sisters for Escape with Flavour
• Mouton Cadet in Paris

Drinks Event of the Year

Winner: Sustainability in Drinks "A professional, relevant and ground-breaking conference with a global reach." Runner-up: Welcome to Whisky from The Whisky Exchange  "A close second to our winner, this was an event that successfully demystified whisky for a younger audience." Commendation: The Bordeaux Experience "A brilliant attempt to modernise the generic wine tasting." Shortlist:

• Sustainability in Drinks
• The Whisky Exchange for Welcome to Whisky
• The Bordeaux Experience
• The Berlin Tasting: 20th Anniversary Celebration
• World Class Shanghai

Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism

Winner: Rioja Paired "A four-part documentary with impressive results: focused on the culture, history, and gastronomy of Rioja, it generated almost 20 million digital impressions in just three months."

Independent Retailer of the Year Award

Winner: Vinotopia "A Cotswolds-based wine retailer with a first-rate range and plenty of events, as well as record-breaking sales at a challenging time – and despite tough local competition."

Online Retailer of the Year

Winner: Laithwaites "A business that continues to set the standard when it comes to online wine retailing, not just in terms of profitability and visitor experience, but sustainability too." Commendation: The Whisky Exchange "A pixel-perfect website offering a brilliant visitor experience." Shortlist

• DrinkSupermarket
• Laithwaites
• Ocado Retail
• Paneco Singapore
• The Whisky Exchange
• Virgin Wines

Fine Wine Retailer of the Year 

Winner: Bordeaux Index "A fast-expanding operator with a new-look website as well as relaunched trading platform handling more than £100m worth of transactions annually."

Travel Retail Operator of the Year

Winner: Duty Free Americas "A seriously impressive operator with 88 stores across 54 different borders, as well as pop-up shops for the likes of the Macallan, and Suntory." Retail Buying Team of the Year in partnership with Watermill Wines Shortlist:

• Majestic Wine
• Ocado Retail
• Virgin Wines

Winner: Ocado "Winning in this hard-fought category is the wine buying team behind an impressive transformation, taking Ocado's BWS range to more than 4,000 products, almost two-thirds of which are unique to the operator."

Retail buyer of the year

Winner: Jessica Summer "A strong personality, who is brave and effective, with a great range in both wine and cheese, which are sold online and within her new physical store called Mouse & Grape."

 Multiple Retailer of the Year

Winner: Majestic Wine "A specialist retailer that continues to smash sales records, while planning new store openings, and expanding its business through acquisitions." Commendation: Aldi "A disruptor in the category and achieving great success while doing it."

Wine Trading Platform of 2025

Winner: Bordeaux Index for LiveTrade "An operation that stands out for its educational content, as well as a revamped interface and technological upgrades, which have made its trading tools more powerful and intuitive than ever before."

Logistics Company of the Year

Winner: VinYard Logistics "A relative newcomer that's focused on delivering results through positive feedback as well as via the numbers." Commendation: Hillebrand Gori UK "With an additional recycling facility in Cardiff, it's now possible to recover and recycle almost 100% of wine flexitanks in the UK." Shortlist:

• Hillebrand Gori UK
• VinLog [powered by Kuehne+Nagel]
• VinYard

Best wine distributor

Winner: LWC “A flagship submission from a stand-out operator that demonstrated valuable investment in the business as well as proof that it has a sustainable business plan."

Best supply chain initiative

Winner: EcoSIP Solutions "An innovative business that ships glass-sized measures of wine in the lightest, most carbon friendly way possible."

Best wine storage company (under one million cases)

Winner: Crown Wine Cellars "A remarkable Hong Kong based business that sees fine wine stored deep underground in former WW11 munitions bunkers, before being delivered using EV vehicles powered by its own solar farm."

Best wine storage company (over one million cases)

Winner: London City Bond "The world’s largest independent operator of bonded warehouses, with 16 warehouses, making over 1 million deliveries during 2024, be it single bottles or full pallets."

On-Trade Supplier of the Year

Winner: Hallgarten & Novum Wines "A business that has seen 25% growth of its on-trade turnover in the last year, driven by new producers, as well as the launch of its Cellar Series in February and a successful annual tasting." Commendation: Majestic Commercial "Set against a backdrop of declining drinks sales, this on-trade supply has done a fantastic job over the last 12 months." Shortlist:

• Hallgarten & Novum Wines
• Majestic Commercial
• Speciality Drinks

Drinks Company of the Year

Winner: Hallgarten & Novum Wines "A company on an impressive expansion drive, opening 750 accounts in the UK in the past 12 months, representing additional annualised sales in excess of £25 million to an already impressive base of 3,000 customers." Commendation: Muckle Brig Ltd "An impressive company that has in the last 12 months gained B Corp status, as well as drawn in over 100,000 visitors at its new Port of Leith Distillery."

Entrepreneur of the year

Winner: Amanda Thomson "A pioneering and tenacious founder of the world’s first premium, organic, non-alcoholic wine brand – Noughty. Having expanded the distribution of this powerful brand, it is now selling in over 40 countries and on track to double year-on-year revenue growth. It’s also just gained lisitings in some of the world’s most respected venues – from The Ritz to Raffles, and Waitrose to The Wolseley."

Young achiever of the year

Winner: Nicola Graham  "A highly impressive operator, particularly in her role as head of brand at Majestic. Age 33, and already managing a team of 10 employees, she has led Majestic’s most successful back-to-back Christmas campaigns in 2023 and 2024, including the company’s first new brand-led TV advert in years, doubling unprompted awareness for the multiple specialist retailer. She has also spearheaded the 2024 Store Sommeliers campaign, and edits Majestics monthly magazine. Out of office hours she has raised funds for Majestic’s charitable foundation by running the marathon and has completed her WSET diploma – with the MW qualification now in her sights."

Woman of the Year Award

Winner: Dawn Davies  "An inspirational and visionary person who is a Master of Wine and buying director at The Whisky Exchange and Speciality Drinks. Indeed, she is someone with such a range of roles – it's hard to fathom how she manages it all. As a buying director across all alcoholic drinks – she is a rare figure with expertise in both wines and spirits, as well as Champagnes. She is also a leader of educational and promotional events at her business – of which there are many, including this year’s inaugural ‘Welcome to Whisky’ Show. In short, the drinks industry simply would not be the same without her."

Man of the Year

Winner: Aidy Smith "A person who has long been focused on making changes for the better in our trade, but has been particularly dogged in his efforts in the past few months. Indeed, in 2025, he expanded DRINKLUSIVE, the world’s first mentorship program for underrepresented voices in wine and spirits. Backed by WSET, it now offers qualifications and mentorship from over 60 industry leaders. This year, he also announced a landmark partnership with Soho House — guaranteeing shelf space for drinks brands led by LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, disabled, and ethnically diverse founders. He’s the only global TV presenter with Tourette Syndrome, and has become a bold voice for disability and neurodivergence, advising major organizations and representing millions through his work, his advocacy, and his unapologetic visibility. Whether on Amazon Prime or at international forums, he continues to prove that inclusion is the future of this industry."]

Lifetime Achievement Award

Recipient: Garrett Oliver For more than three decades, Garrett Oliver has not only dramatically improved the taste of beer but also its image. As brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery and a global authority on beer and food, he has elevated brewing into a cultural, culinary, and social force. From The Brewmaster’s Table to The Oxford Companion to Beer, his words have become foundational texts, changing how the world talks about what’s in the glass. But his legacy goes far beyond brewing. As a founding board member of Slow Food USA and founder of the Michael James Jackson Foundation, he’s championed sustainability, education, and equity across the drinks world. His foundation alone has granted over half a million dollars in scholarships to people of colour pursuing technical careers in brewing and distilling. In 2024, he launched Brewing for Impact, an ambitious global collaboration using fonio — an ancient West African grain — to support sustainable agriculture, smallholder farmers, and future brewing innovation. A creative leader and a relentless advocate for change, he hasn’t just built a remarkable career — he’s transformed an industry.