Portuguese Wine Awards – Laithwaites triumphs

Laithwaites, Eyre Bros, Halifax wine company and wine writer Sarah Ahmed were amongst the winners at the annual Vini Portugal award ceremony.

The Portuguese Ambassador Antonio Santana Carlos presented the prizes last month at the Portuguese Embassy in Belgrave Square.

Winning Retailer of the Year, Laithwaites owner Tony Laithwaite said on his blog, ‘Didn’t I just choke on my partridge?’

He also said that ‘after too much wine’ he told the Ambassador that the Portuguese were just too ‘shy and self-effacing. They need to be pushier. He wasn’t impressed and of course they won’t change.’

He added, ‘So I, Mr Pushy, must do it for them,’ with a further exhortation to ‘Buy Portuguese!’

Eyre Bros, a Spanish and Portuguese restaurant in Shoreditch, London, won the Best Restaurant Award with Smithfield’s Vinoteca wine bar the runner up.

Halifax Wine Company won Independent Retailer of the Year. ‘The uniqueness and individuality of Portuguese wines makes them a fascinating, stimulating and exciting product to sell,’ the company’s Andy Paterson said.

As Journalist of the Year Sarah Ahmed will choose the wines for next year’s 50 great Portuguese Wines Tasting.

‘Portugal’s wealth of native grape varieties offer the wine lover such a unique experience and its wines deserve wider recognition. And you really need to keep your finger on the pulse – it’s a dynamic wine scene. I’m looking forward to a year of serious detective work,’ she said.

Written by Erica Loi