Our Wye Valley Meadery Traditional Mead has been awarded the top Great Taste accolade for Wales for 2023!
Announced on Monday 11 September at a ceremony held at Battersea Arts Centre attended by food industry experts, the Great Taste Golden Fork trophy is the grand finale of the world’s largest food and drink accreditation scheme based entirely on taste.
Rising to the top of hundreds of other entries from Wales, our “softly sweet and nuanced, rounded and complex” Traditional Mead was celebrated as the best tasting product in its country at the UK awards ceremony, dubbed the ‘Oscars’ of the food & drink world.
Kit Newell, co-founder of Hive Mind Mead & Brew Co, said:
“It is a huge honour to be awarded the Golden Fork, especially given the amazing quality of food and drink represented by the entries to the awards. This recognition is testament to the passion and dedication of our small team as we work together to craft unique meads which tell the story of our beautiful region, its biodiversity and the quality of the honey it provides.
“We would like to thank our fantastic friends and family, our great team members and everyone for believing in us and making this award possible,” he said.
Our Traditional Mead impressed the Great Taste judges with its “glorious blossom aroma with woody, earthy elements and a citrus sourness, hinting of fermentation” at every stage of the blind-tasted judging process across 89 days in Dorset and London.
An incredible 14,195 product entries from 3,609 artisan food and drink companies across the world were tasted and considered for the black and gold badge of honour.
John Farrand, managing director at the Guild of Fine Food commented:
“Announcing the Great Taste Golden Fork winners is always a huge honour and a real celebration of all of the producers reaching the finale of the Great Taste judging season.
“After months of rigorous blind-tasting and judging with a team of over 500 judges, it is fantastic to reveal the award-winning products and celebrate the producers; hard work and innovation. It’s been an exceptional year for both creative and traditional food and drink entries, with many products showing us that well-made food and drink will always stand out when put to the test.
“Huge congratulations from all of us at the Guild to all the award winners who have risen to the top and proven to be the best of the best international food and drink. Thank you to everyone who was involved in another successful year of Great Taste.”
The Great Taste Golden Fork from Wales was sponsored by Food & Drink Wales. Also nominated this year were the Great Taste 3-star Pedigree, Organic, Pasture-fed Hogget Leg from Black Welsh Lamb based in Abergavenny, and Cold Pressed Sunflower Dressing Oil from Mountain Produce based in Wrexham.
What is Great Taste?
Recognised as a stamp of excellence and actively sought out by food lovers and retailers alike, Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, values taste above all else. All products in the line-up for judging are blind-tasted: every product is removed from its packaging so it cannot be identified, before entering a robust, layered judging process.
Great Taste’s prestigious judging panel is made up of over 500 food and drink professionals, including critics, chefs, recipe creators, buyers, retailers, journalists, broadcasters, and experts in the field. This experienced panel, each with trusted palates, have together tasted and re-judged the 3-star winning products to determine the Golden Fork winners, as well as the Great Taste Supreme Champion of 2023.
The full list of this year’s winners can be found at www.greattasteawards.co.uk and a wide range of the award-winning products are available to buy in delis, farm shops and independent retail outlets.
