By Hannah

After nearly four months of running this online art and design competition we managed to whittle down over 300 designs from 105 artists to get our top 10 and eventually, after much discussion we chose our winner- David Gogarty.

The competition was organised in collaboration with FAD website; who have helped make this all possible – Mark Westall has played a major part and was also a judge on our panel. The other two “art world” judges were Sarah Ryan of New Blood Art and Chris Pensa of Love Art London.

On the 7^th October we held an exhibition displaying all designs we had received (at least one from every entrant) in the Neu Gallery in Shoreditch. All top ten finalists had their work displayed in Silver frames; with the remainder if the designs displayed around the gallery.  It was an extremely busy evening as well as it being the first Thursday of the month, a very busy date in any artist’s calendar.  The gallery was filled with people discussing & admiring the designs, whilst drinking a glass of our Sovio White Zinfandel and Sovio Chardonnay.

It was lovely to meet our winner David Gogarty, although just briefly, as I was busy topping up glasses with Sovio fizz, but he seemed quite surprised to have won the prize. We are in the process of editing some video footage of an interview with David, so once this is complete we will get it onto the website.

Again, many congratulations to David, here’s hoping he and his girlfriend enjoy the well deserved prize in San Francisco.

By Juliane

The label competition has been closed for a few weeks now and the judges have been busy reviewing over 300 entries from 105 artists. I heard that the decision was very very difficult because there were so many great designs.

However the judges have come up with the shortlist of the top ten, please take a look:

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label-design-competition-the-top-ten-qibxwAAbqEfcudCJpmGi.zip (53 KB)

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label-design-competition-the-top-ten-GtBAfumEwJiagffayqnv.zip (53 KB)

Each one of them is special and the race is still on to determine the lucky winner who will be flying to San Francisco – good luck to all of you!

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/soviowines. Quite a few of the artists are on it and are giving us their opinion. We’d love to hear yours as well.

by Juliane

Sovio’s wine label competition will soon come to an end and the lucky winner will spend a week in San Francisco. There have been lots of wonderful submissions and I can’t wait to see what the judges decide. If you haven’t done so yet, send it your design now. There are only eight days left until closing.  But if you win the trip and get ready to come to San Francisco between June and August there is something you need to know…pack a warm sweater!  Mark Twain once said: "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco”.

It’s true - it’s freezing in the summer in the city. Why? Because there is fog, lots of it. It rolls in from the ocean and often doesn’t burn off all day. Every time I drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and see the shivering tourists walking in their little tank tops I ask myself “why don’t they come in March or October? That’s when it’s really gorgeous, warm and sunny here – and probably cold and freezing in Europe. So, here’s my advice for the winner: Come in the late fall or early spring, pack sunglasses, sunscreen and a down jacket (just in case) and you’ll have a lovely time.

By Hannah - Sovio UK

Every 2 years Farnborough is picked up, turned upside down and shaken about by the Farnborough Air Show. It takes forever to get into the town, round all the roundabouts and into work. The way home is just as bad, it feels like it takes years to get out, you think the town would be glad to see us leave.

I joined Sovio just after the last Farnborough Air Show, so I was lucky enough to not have to stress over my journey to and from work, but this year I managed to get caught up in it. To get our offices you have to drive right past the airfield and all the traffic trying to get to the event. It’s like doing an strange car obstacle course that leads you round bends, weave through cones and has you dodging stray pedestrians.. I feel out of breathe just thinking about it.

Sitting in the once quiet office, where I could quietly listen to the radio and send out tweets, it has now turned into something that resembles the loud noise of a factory. With the constant sound of planes flying over us it sounds like we are going off to war. Cases of Sovio rattling together, the chinking of glass and the distance sound of car alarms going off, I’ll be glad once the weekend has arrived and everything can go back to normal.

By Hannah - Sovio UK

At last the World Cup is over, so I have now officially re-gained my living room and space in the fridge.

As much as I enjoyed the World Cup (England aside) it did limit the amount of time my partner and I spent outside our flat enjoying this gorgeous weather. Night after night we have been on the sofa indulging in unhealthy treats, watching football matches that we had no interest in. Why keep watching after “our” team has been knocked out?

On Saturday (the only day I could free him from sport) we got out to our local nature park. We decided we would do the 2.5 mile walk as the other two were under a mile, and didn’t feel they would test our fitness as much. The first mistake we made was not bringing a refreshing drink on our walk; the temperature must have been in the high 20’s, so I felt constantly thirsty.  Secondly we didn’t pick up a free map, which will make it obvious to you all now that we got lost! We followed the blue footprint signs that directed us up through the woods, past the children’s outdoor adventure playground and up narrow wooded walk ways until we came to a crossroads with no signs.  Officially lost was the word to describe the situation, as thirsty as I was, we carried on, following the never ending cycle path. Eventually after walking the long route back, thirsty, tired and hot, we found the place where we had started. I decided that my extra long walk deserved a small treat; an ice cream. It was the best, most refreshing ice cream I’ve had in a long time and definitely worth the extra walking distance for.

I think this walking could become an activity I do to relax and unwind, a way to love myself more by looking after my health. Walking is free, even better, and it’s a great way to chat and put the world to rights at the same time. One thing I have learnt from the experience though was to carry a bottle of water with me as I walk…… I’ll save the sparkling wine until afterwards, when I’ve got home.

By Juliane - Sovio California

Most of you are probably aware that we have a fantastic competition going on at Sovio to create a new wine label design for our line extensions. The lucky winner will get a trip for two to San Francisco. We have already received dozens of submissions and the deadline is approaching fast. Knowing my artsy friends I know that they like to do things very last minute, so I am expecting many more submissions to come.  

Why don’t you take a minute or two to look at some of this random selection,…. aren’t they gorgeous? I would love to know what your favorite is.

As far as I know there won’t be any judging of the entries going on until next month, so spread the word about this wine label design competition to your friends or design one yourself. You could be spending a week in “the city”, which is what locals call San Francisco (never ever utter the words “Frisco” or “San Fran” unless you immediately want to be identified as a tourist…).

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all-these-beautiful-wine-label-designs-ozHJGjoCgdlCmDxkyxhG.zip (1.94 MB)

By Juliane – Sovio California

I was looking through some old pictures over the weekend and found some from the time when I travelled to Thailand with my best friend. I was 22. We spend a good four weeks at a beautiful beach in Ko Phang Gan doing absolutely nothing. Nothing being sun bathing, swimming, reading, or just being lazy in a hammock. What a dream.

There was this young guy from Bangkok who claimed to be a famous fashion designer. He said that his life became too stressful and that he had to drop out of society and live at the beach with his uncle. It was a good story, but we didn’t believe it. With endless patience he taught us the five meanings of “kao” in Thai. It can mean anything from rice to street to cow, depending how you pronounce it. We couldn’t do it and it was the funniest thing for him, but we didn’t really mind being his source of amusement.

His uncle was famous for those crushed ice watermelon-lime smoothies - one of the most refreshing alcoholic drinks I have ever tasted (I gave up worrying about ice after a few days, they were just too irresistible) and we drank them almost every night. Ever since I came back from this trip I have tried to figure out the drink recipe, but with no success. Luckily there are other fun summer drinks. 

I had a bottle of Sovio White Zinfandel with some girlfriends over the weekend. It can actually get quite hot in California, even in May, and a nice well-chilled wine is exactly what you want to drink on a day like that.  A bottle of bubbly, lovely and refreshing Rosé wine - just what we needed. Almost felt like vacation.  We ate a big bowl of sweet strawberries with it; they are in season right now – I highly recommend that combination.  

By Juliane – Sovio California

I’m a working mom of two little kids. As you can imagine, time is my most precious good. My New Year’s resolution last year was to eat something when I am hungry and to eat it slowly. Have you ever felt that the more you do in a day, the less accomplished you feel? If busy enough this can translate into weeks, months and years. Before I know it ten years will have passed by and it will only feel like three. Slowing down is essential, but how can we do it?  I have found that mini breaks and small treats make a big difference. What do you do to treat yourself, even if there is not time for it?” I had to ask my friends.

My friend Leah, a fellow mom in her mid thirties, just told me that she takes five minutes to apply a new, expensive lotion on her face. Later at night when she still smells it on her face she thinks: “Yes, I actually managed to do something for myself today.”

For me, I like to clear off the mess on the dining table when I come home, which can be a daunting task, especially when having to resist the urge to put everything in one big pile somewhere else, but instead actually put things where they belong. Then I light the three big candles on the table and I enjoy how beautiful it looks in the middle of the chaos. Like a big unsinkable ship.

By Hannah – Sovio UK

Since the World Cup started I have been be demoted to the spare room to watch the TV programmes I want to see (most of which are cancelled due to the football), whilst my boyfriend watches the matches on our 47” TV. So now that we are out of the World Cup (cheers and sadness) I can finally take back the lounge and the 47” TV and watch the sport I not only love, but wish I could play….. Tennis!

Tennis, the sport that makes me think of strawberries and cream, Henman Hill and singing in the rain with Cliff Richard. Every year I enter the ballot to get tickets, as I can’t see myself getting up a 5am in the morning, travelling to London and queuing up for 3 or 4 more hours just to maybe get tickets. The next best thing is (I have decided) to buy the strawberries and cream and the sparkling wine and enjoy it in the comfort of my own chair. I’m sure sitting through a 4 hour match on one of those seats on Centre Court would hurt after a while. I can shout and scream at the TV without upsetting anyone, and yes I know that they can’t hear me, but that’s probably a good thing, I’d rather not be deafened by a crazy lady myself if I was sitting in the courts watching the match.

I am very much looking forward to the Semi- Final tomorrow against Rafael Nadal, it’s going to be a nail-biting game, but Andy is our only hope in this tournament, and a win over Nadal would definitely help sooth our sorrows from our World Cup loss. So I will be there, watching from home shouting and screaming (whilst leisurely sipping my fun summer drinks) for Andy to win. I hope the nation can get behind him as well. After Wimbledon is all over I won’t know what to do with myself, maybe F1 can fill that void… GO BUTTON, GO HAMILTON!

by Juliane - Sovio California

Last night I relaxed over a great pasta Bolognese dinner at my house, with some wonderful friends. The kids played so quietly that they actually got away with going to bed after nine thirty. With our pasta we drank an outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley. And guess what, it had 14.9% alcohol! Luckily I didn’t have to drive anywhere….But the issue is not only that I sometimes feel tipsy after only two glasses of wine. Have you ever considered that your glass of wine has quite a few calories?

I have only recently become aware that alcohol levels in wine are on the rise. I did a little informal poll among my friends, and most of them think that wine has about 11% alcohol – we wish! What is starting to dawn on us is that we’re really not doing ourselves a favor with that glass or two of Chardonnay at night. Is there a way to stay slim and to keep enjoying wine? Sure there is…

“Drink in moderation” my mom says, “stop eating sugar” Californians say (I have always wondered why sugar is such a big issue in California – but surprisingly it works!). Exercising every day helps too. Absolutely not a realistic strategy though, at least not for me – there is simply not enough time. And who is disciplined enough after work, making dinner, cleaning up, and bringing the kids to bed to resist a glass of wine and something sweet? I treat myself to a glass of Sovio sometimes instead of a heavy red. You should give it a try. It’s not only a fun alcoholic drink that tastes great – it’s probably also the lowest calorie wine you have ever tried.