At the awards ceremony for ‘New Zealand Wine Merchant Of The Year 2008’ which was recently held in London, Amps Fine Wines overcame sturdy opposition from an impressive array of 500 large multiple retailers for the right to be able to exhibit the industry’s Gold Award.

A distinct and highly successful effort was made by Amps to introduce customers to wines of the region other than the familiar Kiwi Sauvignon Blancs, such as the highly regarded and coveted Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. There was no danger of the judges from New Zealand Winegrowers being less than thoroughly impressed by the extravagant array of Kiwi wines on display. Over the summer period the Winegrowers proved their judgement more than accurate, as there was an enriching 63% uplift in sales of their wines.

Current tops sellers for Amps are the ‘Sauvignon Blanc Cloudy bay 2007’ priced at £16.99 and Pinot Noir The Crossings 2006 Marlborough, £8.49 on promotion.

Amps Fine Wines shop can be found off the Market Square in the centre of Oundle, as well as online. Beginning life as a town grocer in 1901, Amps has evolved into a fully fledged supermarket and finally a specialist wine & spirits company, run by Philip Amps, who is the fourth generation to take control of the helm.

Philip commented, “All of the team are delighted that such a powerful force in the wine industry has recognised our achievements in promoting the world class wines of New Zealand. As with all of our initiatives, we aimed to introduce the Kiwi wines in a relaxed and informative manner to our varied customer base.”

Responsible for marketing at Amps Fine Wines, Danielle Freer masterminded the season’s promotions. Danielle added, “I think the judges liked the way that we got inventive. As well as our popular wine tastings we tied in the summer’s sporting events where England took on New Zealand at Rugby and Cricket. We held a New Zealand Festival where we served customers a lamb roast on the day of one of the rugby tests. Unfortunately England lost pretty convincingly but we had the last laugh as our entire staff wore t-shirts at the event saying ‘Great Wine – Shame About The Rugby’”.

All employees are ecstatic about securing such an internationally prestigious award. Indeed, two of Amps’ employees will travel to New Zealand with all expenses covered, where for two weeks they will be given the opportunity to take wine tasting trips.