A recent Waitrose report revealed that one in ten consumers had installed an outdoor bar, while wine retailer Majestic reported a 300 per cent online sales increase during the first lockdown. Our Wine Awards have taken on a particular importance over the past couple of years during Covid as Brits treated themselves to alcoholic indulgences to cheer themselves up. He’s also one of the judges in the fourth annual Daily Mail Wine Awards, tasting and choosing the 40 best-value bottles in Britain from a specially selected group of supermarket tipples – from reds and rosés to whites, fizzies and Ports. Not only was it where he went on his first foreign holiday and the first place Take That performed outside the UK, but it is now also the country of origin for his first wine range.ĭuring the pandemic, with pubs and bars closed for months on end, lockdowns served to bring out our inner explorers, and Gary has now started his own wine label. Spain is a land of firsts for Gary Barlow. Aside from being packed with superbly accurate flavours, every single winner and runner-up in each class shows extraordinary value for money. I cannot thank them enough for their time – and their great taste. As self-appointed chairman of this merry band of talented palates, it is a highly enjoyable day and the results that this team have come up with this year are nothing short of incredible. I then ring up my most talented wine expert friends to assemble the ultimate judging team in order to taste, vote for and comment on these wines. I whittle down a long list of bottles to the very best, and then further divide them into categories covering every flavour and style imaginable. This ultimate ‘blind tasting’ challenge is the culmination of months of me tasting my way through thousands of wines from the UK’s High Street retailers.
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In 2020 we were forced to conduct this logistically challenging event remotely, which was rather interesting to say the least, but this year we were thankfully all back together at Daily Mail HQ. The Daily Mail Wine Awards is my favourite day of the year.