At the 4th Edition of London Wine Competition which took place in London, Joanne Irvine won Wine of The Year, Best Wine in Show by Country, Best Wine in Show by Varietal, Best Wine by Quality, for her Levrier by Jo Irvine 2015 Anubis Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon and awarded with a further two Gold Medals for her Levrier by Jo Irvine 2015 Argos Barossa Shiraz and Levrier by Jo Irvine 2017 Peritas Barossa Zinfandel, which is the ultimate seal of approval in the global wine industry. In order to receive this distinction, Joanne Irvine needed to score highly in three different categories: Quality, Value and Packaging.

The goal of the London Wine Competition is to award and celebrate the wines that wine drinkers actually want to buy, whether at a retail wine store or ordering from the wine list at a London restaurant. Not only does the London Wine Competition celebrate quality, where winemaking ability and technical expertise receive peer, buyer and sommelier accreditation, the judges also award points and medals for both value and packaging.

According to CEO Sid Patel of event organizer Beverage Trade Network, “Consumers want to enjoy an ‘experience’ from a bottle of wine, it is much more than an alcoholic commodity. That’s why the Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers and experienced traders judging at the 2021 London Wine Competition look at wines the way wine drinkers do. Yes, they analyse quality professionally; they are then asked to judge and award marks based on value for money and appearance.”

The judging panel consisted of Masters of Wine, many senior Sommeliers from some of London’s most accredited restaurants, buyers and traders with extensive commercial buying responsibility. Entrants to the London Wine Competition could be assured that their wines were being judged for the whole proposition of the bottle, not purely for the liquid inside.

According to many of the judges from both restaurants and retail, they want to present wines to their customers that further re-assure them in the way that the bottles look and are packaged. In turn, their customers want wines to look good. No longer will the ‘cellar’ label suffice as a mark of the winemaker’s personal quality.
Wines were judged on the basis of three primary criteria – quality, value and packaging – and then scored on a 100-point scale. Wines that scored 90+ points were awarded Gold medals.

“In today’s competitive market it is not enough to simply create good wine. Wine Lovers expect their wines to look great and be excellent value for money. That’s why we are extremely proud that Levrier by Jo Irvine scored so highly at the 2021 London Wine Competition,” said Joanne Irvine.
Upon hearing the news Joanne said, “What a fantastic accolade to win for a small family-owned winery in the Barossa. World-Class Wine Shows like the London Wine Competition understand the importance of the creative process involved in making a beautiful work of art, both on the inside and the outside of the bottle, that really appeals to wine lovers.

I spent years with my small team bringing Levrier to life, from vineyard to final packaging, so I am genuinely delighted to be recognized with these awards.”
“Winning an award is particularly important to us because it not only shows that we are making the types of wines that wine drinkers actually want to buy and enjoy, but also that we are making the types of wines that the trade wants to include in their lists.”