The Global Wine Masters has accredited the Royal Agricultural University’s home-grown wine with a top award in its Wine Design and Packaging category.
Cotswold Hills is a social enterprise that gives students the real-life experience of the wine industry. From grape sourcing to marketing and finance, the university's award-winning enterprise has been producing a range of wines under its name since 2016.
But, what caught the judges' eye at the international awards, was the bottle. Cotswold Hills is the first UK vineyard to use an innovative new design that is 'flat' and made of 100 per cent recycled plastic. The company behind the product, Packamama, is intent on transforming the drinks industry into a low-carbon, energy efficient field.
Hugo Sain-Ley-Berry-Gray, the RAU’s student lead on the flat wine bottle project, said: 'The award is a great achievement for the Cotswold Hills team. The flat bottle design has been well received by our customers and we are proud to receive recognition from within the industry with this prestigious award.'
The university is home to more than 1,100 undergraduate and post-graduate students, highly regarded in the land-based business community and works hard with students to develop schemes that focus on sustainability, employability and entrepreneurship.
Cotswold Hills wine is stocked
in more than 125 outlets countrywide and produced from mainly Ortega grapes at the University’s 2.6 hectare
vineyard near Down Ampney, Cirencester.
The operation is part of the university’s award-winning enterprise and entrepreneurship programme and gives students the opportunity to gain first-hand enterprise and employability skills, learning about, wine production, marketing, sales, and finances.
For example, Cotswold Hills donates £1 from every bottle sold to the RAU’s First Steps Fund, which provides small grants to students wanting to start their own businesses.
