Lyre’s Spirit Co and Edenvale received gold medals at the recent World Alcohol-Free Awards, with 11 Australian producers being recognised out of a field of 450 entries.
The world’s largest alcohol-free drinks competition saw a team of international non-alcoholic specialist tasters judge 450 entries from 21 countries.
Products on the table included wines, spirits, and beers to kombuchas, aperitifs, and cocktails.
Each medal winning entry was tasted up to 12 times by the judges, who awarded a total of 58 golds, 87 silvers, and 110 bronze medals.
From Australia:
- Lyre’s – three gold, two silver, and six bronze;
- Edenvale – two gold, two silver, one bronze;
- Altina – one silver, one bronze;
- Brown Brothers – one silver;
- Seadrift – two silver;
- Vintense – one silver;
- Loxton (Australian Vintage) – one bronze;
- Noot – one bronze;
- Pernelle, one bronze;
- Pure Vision – one bronze; and
- Smug AF Cocktails – two bronze.
The awards are for products with alcohol levels of 0.5% ABV or below. They were created by former Michelin-starred drinks buyer and non-alcoholic specialist, Chrissie Parkinson, and drinks writer and editor, Chris Losh, in 2022.
Losh said, “It’s been really heartening to see the support for this competition from producers all round the world. Alcohol-free is a huge global trend and we’re excited to be able to reflect that.”
He said that vermouth, aperitifs, and wine alternatives excited the judges the most this year, as well as the significant growth in genuinely unique products with no alcoholic counterpart.
Parkinson said ‘We’re seeing a real growth in quality and complexity from the best producers in this space now – particularly in wine. It’s a category where producers really can’t stand still if they want to be the best.
“In fact, across the whole AF sector, drinks that might have been considered exceptional even two or three years ago are now often being surpassed by exciting new versions.”
