Wine News

Champagne corks have been popping again at Berry Bros. & Rudd after once again scooping Best Online Merchant of the Year at Monday's prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards.

Held at London's Hempel Hotel and attended by Wine Royalty from all over the globe, the prestigious wine awards ceremony celebrated the year's successes in style.

Decanter said: `Berry Bros & Rudd is the benchmark for online retailing worldwide, let alone in the UK…The site also launched a blog last year, adding to the increasingly interactive nature of online retail, and upping the site's popularity'.

The judges including Steven Spurrier and Joe Fattorini had the following to say about bbr.com:

`Continually reinventing itself when one might think it would be happy relaxing at No 3 St James's Street, Berry's online product is an inspiration', said Steven Spurrier.

`Too often, online retailers offer little more than an electronic warehouse. French regions on this pallet, Italian reds racked up by price to your right, but Berry Bros & Rudd creates an online shopping experience. It might not delight in the comparison, but the site is a Disney store for wine-loving grown-ups. You can immerse yourself in Berrys' world, and emerge with a real involvement in what you've brought. And usually you've brought plenty of it', said Joe Fattorini.

Berrys' Wine Director Alun Griffiths says: "BBR has always set great store by its Internet site and has received several awards for its excellence over the past decade."

"In the past year the site has undergone a complete overhaul to improve it further, and it is doubly gratifying to see this change further recognised with this prestigious award, which acknowledges a tremendous amount of hard work from our Internet team".