The Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) is more than just a blind wine tasting with medals. The very nature of the competition – on-trade-exclusive wines, judged solely by people who buy wine for hospitality venues – means that it’s also a great chance to get a somms’-eye view of what is happening in the on-trade supply chain.
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UKHospitality, the trade body for hospitality which represents over 750 companies in the UK, has backed the Scotch Whisky Association’s (SWA) call for the UK Government to freeze alcohol duty in the Autumn Budget.
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The Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) 2025 Trophy winners will be available for tasting at both SITT London and SITT Manchester next week, on 15 and 17 September respectively.
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Establishing a lay of the land for our new tariff world order is an unenviable task. For much of the planet the final tariff landscape is yet to take a solid form. For UK wine and spirits producers, however, there appears for now to be a clearer picture of how their drinks will be levied entering the United States.
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The delayed details of the official cost per tonne of glass as part of the government’s EPR scheme have been announced by DEFRA.
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The results are in for this year’s Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) competition with 2025’s crop of entries throwing up a healthy tally of medals, pointing to both the quality and diversity of wines available to the UK on-trade. And once again, in terms of overall wines entered and medals won, the major European producing countries lead the pack. Notable standouts too, though, are Australia, noted for its strong medal haul, and sparkling wines, including the English contingent, which also did very well.
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The Extended Producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging scheme is yet another headwind in a now long line of challenges facing the UK drinks trade, with its implementation already well under way, but – some would say predictably – dogged by a lack of clarity and various unknowns.
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Figures from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) reveals that the total global export value for Scotch whisky stood at £5.4bn for 2024. This represents a slight decline of 3.7% in exports by value compared to 2023.
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SWA chief executive has claimed the industry is “not crying wolf” over the impact of the double-digit rise in spirit duty since August 2023. According to Treasury figures, the revenue from spirits duty fell by £255m for the period running 1 August 2023 to 30 November 2024, which equates to an eye-watering half a million-pound loss in revenue every day for HMRC.
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The Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) is once again open for entries for its 2025 round of judging.
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Scotland’s food and drink wholesalers, alongside the Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA), were recognised in the Scottish Parliament for their vital role in supporting the economy and communities nationwide.
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The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has revealed a significant drop in exports, with a decline of 18% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. The value of exports in H1 2024 fell to £2.1bn, while the volume dropped by 10.2%, equating to 566 million 70cl bottles, or 36 bottles per second. This contrasts with 40 bottles per second in the first half of 2023.
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Harpers is delighted to announce the results of the revamped and rebooted Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) which were revealed this afternoon (1 July) at Imbibe Live.
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The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) is urging the next government to reverse the damage caused by Jeremy Hunt’s 10% increase in spirits excise duty. Newly published figures from HMRC reveal that the Treasury has lost more than £100m since the tax hike last August.
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Tom Slaven, retail director of Glasgow-based United Wholesale Grocers, has been elected to the role of president of the Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA), taking over from Julie Dunn.
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Having crunched the numbers and totted up the results, the Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) 2024 winners, including Merchant and Producer of the Year awards, plus the Wines of the Year, are to be announced at Imbibe Live! on 1 July at London Olympia.
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Imbibe Live, a leading event for the drinks industry, is set to return on 1-2 July at London Olympia.
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The results of the Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) 2024 are now live, revealing the Gold, Silver and Bronze medal wines.
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Following a pandemic-induced hiatus, the Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) made a lively return this week (12-13 March) at The Oval in London, bringing together judges from a wide pool of the UK's leading restaurants.
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The government dashed hopes of a cut to alcohol duty following the announcement of the Spring Budget today (6 March) by chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
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