Su Birch, CEO of WoSA, is first winner of Wine Intelligence 10 for 10 Business Award

Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa was named as the first of 10 winners of the Wine Intelligence 10 for 10 Business Award, at a ceremony following the Wine Intelligence seminar programme at ProWein.

The award was presented by Felicity Carter, Editor of Meininger’s Wine Business International, one of the 10-strong panel of judges, in front of a crowd of wine trade leaders which included fellow nominees Michael Cox of Wines of Chile UK, journalist and wine judge Tim Atkin MW, winemaker Etienne Hugel, Ross Brown of Brown Brothers, and fellow South African and Chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine, Lynne Sherriff MW.

In a brief and heartfelt acceptance speech, Birch attributed her success during her 12 year tenure at WoSA to strong backing from her colleagues. “I think it’s because I have the best team in the world, everyone out there in the different countries [where WoSA has offices] who do such an amazing job,” she said.

The Wine Intelligence 10 for 10 Business Awards were created to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of Wine Intelligence, which is now a global operation working in 20 countries. The awards are designed to celebrate individuals in the wine business around the world who have made a significant contribution to the success of the global wine industry in the decade. The award itself is an original piece of art conceived by Polish artist Anna Kus Park, who has created 10 distinctive paintings, one for each award winner.

Prior to announcing her as the winner, Felicity Carter said of Birch: “If you are CEO of Wines of South Africa you really have your work cut out for you.”

“In the past ten years, Su has trebled sales in international markets. South African wines are storming into markets like Holland, Germany and the UK. And beyond the wine trade, Su has been involved in a number of sustainability issues. She has been involved in initiatives to get people from disadvantaged backgrounds into the wine trade, and has had an enormous role in promoting sustainability in South Africa.”

A total of 30 prominent wine trade figures from around the world were nominated by the judging panel, and a further 9 awards will be given out at a series of events organised by Wine Intelligence throughout 2012. These will include events at London International Wine Fair, Vinexpo Hong Kong, and the Outlook conference in Melbourne, plus separate events in San Francisco, Madrid, Santiago, and southern France, with a grand finale in London in November.

Commenting on the award, Richard Halstead, COO of Wine Intelligence, said: “I’m really pleased the judges chose to highlight the work Su and the WoSA team have been doing over the past decade. It’s always hard to single out an individual, but in this case the feeling from the judges was that Su’s persistence, enthusiasm and dynamism throughout her long tenure was worthy of recognition.”