TANNERS Wines, which has a key branch in St Peter’s Square, Hereford, has received two major national awards beating off stiff competition from the best wine merchants in the UK.

The International Wine Challenge played host to one of the largest gatherings of the global wine trade in many years where the champions of the 2008 competition, generally accepted as the ‘Oscars’ of the wine trade were announced.

James Tanner, managing director of the family-owned firm, was presented with national awards for the Large Independent Wine Merchant of the Year, Direct Wine Merchant of the Year and the regional Merchant of the Year for West Central England, which Tanners has won on 10 previous occasions.

Judges assessed the competing wine merchants against a stiff set of criteria including variety in wine list, customer service, store layout, on-line promotions and innovation.

“These awards are a huge achievement and our recognition by such an experienced and well respected panel of judges is acknowledgement of all our hard work in keeping Tanners at the forefront of the UK wine industry,” said James.

“I was particularly pleased that, in the Direct Wines category, we were up against the best mail order and online retailers in the UK.”