AWARD-WINNING wines produced from grapes grown in a small Worcestershire vineyard are about to find a place on the shelves of a major local food retailer.

The Midcounties Co-operative Food, which operates nine stores in Worcestershire, is stocking and selling a selection of white, rose and sparkling wines from the Sixteen Ridges Vineyard in Shrawley near Worcester.

The wines are part of the Co-op’s Best of Our Counties range, which includes the highest quality of food and drink sourced from the county or neighbouring county of each store. They will be available in the society’s Stourport store on Lombard Street from the end of this month.

To support the society’s network-wide focus on local wines, managers from all The Midcounties Co-operative’s food stores will undertake a day’s tasting and training with the Wines and Spirits Education Trust. This will build the managers’ confidence by teaching them about grape varieties, production methods, and food pairings, so they can help customers choose the perfect bottle.

Matt Fletcher, direct sourcing manager at The Midcounties Co-operative Food, said: “We ask our customers what kinds of product they’d like us to stock. We know that people in the Worcestershire community want carefully selected, high quality local food and drinks, which means we’re confident our new wine range will go down a treat, especially now that store managers are being trained to give advice on which wines compliment which foods.

“Our Best of Our Counties range features an increasing number of products made right here on our doorstep, and we’re proud to keep supporting our amazing local producers.”

Sally Booth, Sixteen Ridges sales and marketing manager, said: “Being included in the Best of Our Counties range is really beneficial to us, as it gets Sixteen Ridges wines in front of so many more customers. We’re very appreciative of The Midcounties Co-operative’s ethos in supporting local farmers and producers, and we love the fact that their customers genuinely care about provenance and the countryside around them.”

The Sixteen Ridges wines being sold at the Midcounties Co-operative Food stares are the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) bronze and Decanter bronze award winning Pinot Noir Rosé; the IWSC silver and Decanter bronze award winning Pinot Noir Rose Sparkling; The IWSC silver, Decanter bronze and International Wine Challenge bronze winning Signature Cuvee sparkling white (Pinot Noir and Seyval Blanc); and the white Pinot Noir.

Midcounties Co-operative says: “At The Midcounties Co-operative we believe that one of our main strengths is the fact that we support local farmers and suppliers where possible and are therefore able to offer our customers the best quality local food and drink.

“Products from our Best of Our Counties range is only sourced from the home or neighbouring county of each store. This not only reduces food miles, it also means that our customers know exactly where their food comes from and how it has been produced providing peace of mind that it is of the highest quality as well as sustainably sourced.”