An iconic drink made on the island of Lindisfarne in Northumberland has won a silver medal in the prestigious Los Angeles International Wine Competition in the USA.
The accolade for Lindisfarne Mead, sold as Lindisfarne Original in America, comes relatively early in the company’s push into the USA market. The LA International Wine Competition is now in its 77th year and attracted more than 3000 entries from 23 countries this year.
“We are really delighted,” said Keith Stephenson, Chairman of the Harry Hotspur Holdings Group that includes Lindisfarne Ltd and sister companies Alnwick Brewery and Alnwick Rum. “We are very proud to produce one of the region’s iconic drinks that has such a history and there is no doubt this silver medal win will raise our profile and open up new sales avenues for us in the States for all the Group’s products.”
“We have invested considerable time and effort into acquiring the licences we need to sell our Lindisfarne Mead range in the USA – the Original Mead, which has now sold more than two million bottles, the recently added Pink Mead, a big seller for weddings, and a Spiced Mead.
“In fact, within days of our award being announced we were contacted by a distributor in New York who wants to discuss selling our range of Alnwick Rums, not only in the USA but globally.
“We are very pleased with the way our export push in the USA is progressing. These are undoubtedly challenging times for UK businesses so we are particularly pleased to be establishing ourselves in the USA as well as in Europe and across the UK,” he added.
The company’s marketing in the States makes much of the drink’s exclusivity and manufacture on a tidal island known as the cradle of Christianity, giving a boost to the region’s profile with mentions of Northumberland’s history, Hadrian’s Wall and the Lindisfarne Gospels.
Lindisfarne Mead is a blend of honey and fermented grape juice that uses locally drawn waters and is fortified to pack a punch at 14.5% ABV. It featured in a recent Sunday Times magazine as the drink that is “Going Up” in a column of the same name, as it gains in popularity with younger drinkers. It can be drunk chilled as an aperitif, as a dessert wine and is particularly good with cheese and Indian foods.
All three companies in the Harry Hotspur Holdings Group are going from strength to strength with substantially increased sales figures through distributors, stockists and online. A number of new products including fruit wines, rums, beers, fudge, biscuits and chocolates have been introduced and a Taste of Northumbria shop opened in Alnwick.