The 2016 final of the annual Millennium & Copthorne Wine Ambassador of the Year competition (now in its 2nd year) took place in London on Friday 23 September 2016, organised by Mr Ken Ellington, General Manager of Copthorne Newcastle,  in conjunction with UK wine and spirits supplier Bibendum. The judges for the final included Dante Cecchini, Regional Manager of the Banfi Winery in Tuscany;  Leo Harrison, Bibendum National Account Manager; Alex DeCarvalho, General Manager of Millennium Gloucester and Mr Ken Ellington.

The unanimous winner on the day was Sam Greenaway from the Copthorne Newcastle, who won a 3-day wine educational visit to Rioja in Spain for two persons on 22 – 24 February 2017, a magnum of champagne, and a place on a WSET wine qualification course. The two runners up were Chiara Coppola from the Millennium Gloucester and Pasquale from the Millennium Mayfair, who will also attend the wine visit to Spain. Honourable mentions for the other three finalists on the day – Ivalyo Marinkov from the Copthorne Aberdeen, Lorenzo Appicciutoli from the Copthorne Gatwick and Vincent Morgia from the Copthorne Plymouth. 

It was clear that all who attended the final gained a great deal from it, and that the investment of time and resources into the staff had a very positive impact on them. This event will be used next year in Q1 / Q2 as a catalyst to run planned external wine training courses through Bibendum for chosen candidates within the hotels, to improve wine knowledge and confidence, in order to boost skill levels and to drive retail sales within the hotels through striving for a culture of excellence.