The Final took place on Monday January 25th, 2016. Congratulations to all the winners!

The awards, which included 38 finalists, saw Baggot Street Wines awarded ‘National Off-Licence of the Year 2016’, The Molloy Group, Dublin won ‘Responsible Retailer of the Year 2016’ and Dylan McEvoy, Gibneys Off Licence, Malahide won ‘RTC Online Trainee of the Year 2016’.

All 38 finalists were awarded certificates of either ‘Merit’ or ‘Excellence’ and a Customer Service Award based on their performance and other awards on the night included:

Specialist Off-Licence Group of the Year 2016 – The O’Donovan Group, Cork
Best First Time Entrant 2016 – 64 Wines Glasthule
Food Retailer Off-Licence of the Year 2016 – Shiel’s Londis Malahide
Customer Service Award of the Year 2016 – O’Donovans, Ballincollig
Spirit Specialist of the Year 2016 – James Redmond & Sons, Ranelagh
Beer Specialist of the Year 2016 – Martins Off-Licence, Fairview
Wine Specialist of the Year 2016 – Jus de Vine, Portmarnock
Connaught/Ulster Off-Licence of the Year 2016 – McCambridge’s, Galway
Leinster Off-Licence of the Year 2016 – The Wine Centre, Kilkenny
Dublin Off-Licence of the Year 2016 – Blackrock Cellar, Dublin
Munster Off-Licence of the Year 2016 – Number 21, Midleton

Judging for the awards began in June 2015 with the ongoing judging process culminating in a blind wine tasting which involved participants answering questions about the unidentified wines. Final awards were allocated following this process.