Merchants of the Year 2026

The merchants who enter the Sommelier Wine Awards are the lifeblood of this competition and this year’s batch stood the UK trade proud, revealing both the quality and breadth of wines out there for the on-trade, with more than enough to satisfy wine lists of every shape and size. As ever, there were a few that stood out from the crowd and these special awards honour those wine merchants that went home with a significant medal haul this year.

LARGE MERCHANT OF THE YEAR

WINNER: LIBERTY

Shortlisted: Alliance/Hallgarten

Much-deserved recognition for Liberty’s portfolio, with this leading importer landing Large Merchant of the Year, with 21% of its entries receiving a gold medal. Liberty also received two trophies for its wines – Sherry of the Year, the Amontillado ‘Tio Diego’ Pago de Macharnudo, and Dessert Wine of the Year, for the Old Vine Rutherglen Muscat, drawn from as far apart as Jerez and Australia’s Rutherglen.

Liberty’s award in this slot was also notable in that its entries showed an even split of representation from both Old and New World countries, with gold-winning wines coming from France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Australia, Chile and Uruguay. Almost all the wines Liberty entered received a medal of some kind (93%), completing this worthy and award-winning picture.

SMALL MERCHANT OF THE YEAR

WINNER: HATCH MANSFIELD

Shortlisted: Pol Roger/The Society of Vintners

Hatch Mansfield romped home here to take the title of Small Merchant of the Year, being a clear and unarguable front runner. This merchant achieved a 100% success rate in terms of medals, with none of its entries going home empty handed, in a superb showing of limited number but quality entries.

Moreover, in addition to a healthy sprinkling of golds, silvers and bronzes, Hatch swept up the House Red Wine of the Year for its Zuccardi Brazos Malbec from Argentina. Overall, half of this merchant’s entries came from France, with that being reflected in half its golds, with the other gold medals coming from Spain, Argentina and the US.

FINE WINE MERCHANT OF THE YEAR

WINNER: ALLIANCE WINE

Shortlisted: Liberty/Pol Roger

In a hard-fought contest, Alliance’s entries shone this year, crowning our Sommelier Wine Awards in the category of Fine Wine Merchant of the Year of the Year. Put into numbers, this innovative importer and distributor’s medal haul came in at two trophies, 11 golds, 26 silvers and 43 bronzes. Moreover, all of Alliance’s entries above a £20 trade price took a medal of some hue (with 20% of those being gold), suggesting that this company really does put the ‘fine’ in its wine portfolio.

Among a spread of medal-winning wines that spanned the winemaking world, from Aragon, Alicante, Douro and Elgin to Jerez, Margaret River, Languedoc-Roussillon, Piedmont, Santorini, Tokaj and much else besides, there were many standouts. Examples include Bodegas Ximénez-Spínola, PX Delicado 2024, winning a trophy in its category, and Bodegas Alto Moncayo, Veratón 2022, Aragón, Spain, which received gold and Critics’ choice. When it comes to fine wine, and plenty more, Alliance is clearly at the top of its game, with Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece particular standouts in the medal-winning stakes.

CLASSIC OLD WORLD MERCHANT OF THE YEAR

WINNER: LIBERTY WINES

Shortlisted: Alliance/The Society of Vintners

Some 93% of Liberty’s Classic Old World wines took a medal, with by far the largest slice of golds in the category, coming in at an impressive 25% of entries. Digging down a little deeper, France accounted for 40% of those gold medals, with Burgundian producer Domaine Changarnier being a prime example with its Monthélie ‘Pierrefitte’ 2023.

In terms of winning wines set against entries, Liberty’s medal tally was impressive, revealing the overall quality of its Old World portfolio.

Portugal was particularly strong, with the Douro joined by several other winemaking regions, and Italy – a specialism – also fared well, with Tuscany, Piedmont and Lombardy standing out.

Jerez similarly took several medals, with the sherry entrants doing well.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN MERCHANT OF THE YEAR

WINNER: HALLGARTEN

Shortlisted: Alliance/LWC

This is a new category introduced this year, in recognition of the growing interest in the wines of these diverse countries and regions, allowing CEE to stand out from the more traditionally recognised Old World territories. Hallgarten swept the board, with the highest number of golds as well as the highest percentage of medal winning wines at 90%, reflecting just how much work the buying team at this go-ahead merchant has put into developing its CEE portfolio.

As expected, Greece was a particularly strong category, accounting for 67% of medals from Hallgarten’s Central and Eastern European producers. However, Turkey, Georgia, Croatia and Macedonia all contributed to Hallgarten’s success, with the combined entries delivering two golds, 10 silvers and 18 bronzes, representing a medley of exciting wines to judge and discover.

NEW WORLD MERCHANT OF THE YEAR

WINNER: HALLGARTEN

Shortlisted: Hatch Mansfield/Liberty

Hallgarten shone again in the New World Merchant of the Year flights, with judges finding much to commend among its entries and the company walking off with both the highest number of medals for the category overall at 56, and the highest number of golds at seven. This healthy pot of gongs also included the Popular Pick white wine of the year, namely the Leeuwenkuil Family Vineyards Chenin Blanc Reserve White from South Africa.

Indeed, South Africa was the strongest category all round in Hallgarten’s excellent New World offer, closely followed by New Zealand, with both making up some two thirds of Hallgarten’s medals in this category. However, from the Americas both Argentina and the US also put in a good showing, with golds awarded to El Enemigo Gran Enemigo Single Vineyard Agrelo Cabernet Franc 2021, Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza, and Peterson Winery Tollini Vineyard Mendo Blendo 2022, Mendocino County, California, respectively. Australia also landed a gold for The Florita, a Riesling from Jim Barry Wines.

VALUE MERCHANT OF THE YEAR

WINNER: LWC

Shortlisted: Jascots/Hatch Mansfield/The Society of Vintners

(NB: we recognised three runners up in this section, all of which pulled down a trophy and were too close to call.)

The mighty LWC once again swept the competition away when it came to great value for the quality of wines, being noted for the consistency of the offer too in the sub-£10 price bracket. This national wholesaler landed 51 medals in the Value Merchant of the Year territory. The judges were clearly impressed by many of the offerings, with the ongoing economic headwinds for merchants and consumers alike making this even more of an impressive haul.

What’s more, as our judges noted, LWC achieved this while still putting up a genuinely global spread of wines, both Old and New World represented, with more esoteric offerings from the likes of Hungary and Romania in the mix too. One such gold-winning example was Balauri Feteasca Regala from the latter, which exemplified the value still to be found if all wine options are brought to the tasting table.