The National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) has awarded its annual Irish Wine Show Star Awards to 45 wines this week at its annual event.
Now in its twenty first year, the winning wines from the Irish Wine Show Star Awards will be available to consumers from NOffLA outlets across Ireland.
Speaking at the Awards, Gary O’Donovan, chairman of NOffLA congratulated the 2021 winners and said, “It is great to be able to celebrate some of the finest products sold by our highly-trained members around the country.
"As independent, specialist retailers NOffLA members are at the heart of their communities and serve as responsible and highly-knowledgeable local retailers who are committed to excellence both in terms of personal service and the high-quality wines that we offer," he said.
“However, this offering continues to be under serious threat as Irish excise levels impede the drinks sector in Ireland and remain the highest among our EU neighbours," O’Donovan added.
Budget 2022
At the event which was live streamed online on Monday, NOffLA once again called on the Government to reduce excise duty by 7.5% in Budget 2022, to begin to align Irish excise rates with EU levels and to protect the commercial viability of drinks sector businesses post-COVID.
O’Donovan noted that a reduction in excise levels of 7.5% in Budget 2022 would help protect the commercial models of businesses within the drinks sector and help provide an optimal trading environment.
According to NOffLA this is in line with calls from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) as Irish excise on wine remains the highest in the EU; Irish consumers pay €3.19 in excise per standard bottle at 13% ABV.
Star Award Adjudication Panel
In excess of 600 wines were submitted to the Star Award adjudication panel of NOffLA judges and independent wine journalists.
Points were awarded on the basis of appearance, smell, taste and value for money criteria, and the winning 15 were selected as the best wines from key suppliers across a number of price categories, the group said.
Each of the winning wines will be sold in NOffLA member outlets across the country and will be recognisable by distinctive Award symbols on each bottle.
In the pre-Christmas period NOffLA said that its members will 'promote the Irish Wine Show Star Awards 2021-2022 Collection as ideal Christmas gifts, in a variety of special gift packs.'
Click here for a brochure of the 2021 winning wines.
© 2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. For more Drinks news click here. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout
