The International Wine Challenge has announced the medal winners from the first tasting session of the 2014 competition. The competition awarded a total of 62 Gold medals, 352 Silver medals and 647 Bronze medals, following the first-ever November tasting in the annual IWC calendar.
After 30 years, the International Wine Challenge has made a fundamental change to its judging schedule, and will now be hosting two separate tastings throughout the year to accommodate the different production and sales schedules across the industry, giving winemakers a greater choice of when to enter their wines.
Tranche one has been added to the annual schedule and took place at the end of last month, and Tranche two will happen in April 2014, as in previous years.
Highlights:
- Wines from New Zealand were awarded 14 Gold medals, with eight of those being awarded to 2013 Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs. The judges were hugely impressed with the quality of wines coming from this southern hemisphere country.
- Only France picked up more – the French won 15 Gold medals.
- Supermarket own-brand wines performed well. Morrisons struck Gold with its Signature Alsace Gewurztraminer 2012 that retails at £7.99 and was the only supermarket own brand wine to win a Gold medal. However, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, and Marks and Spencer all received Silver medals for own-brand wines.
- Sainsbury’s received three Silver medals, for its Taste the Difference Vintage Cava Brut 2011 (£9.99), its Taste the Difference Riesling 2013 (£9.99) and its Fairtrade Sauvignon Blanc 2013 (RRP £7.99). ASDA’s Extra Special Marques del Norte Rioja Reserva 2009 (£8.50) was also awarded a Silver medal.
- Marks and Spencer, which was named the IWC 2013 Supermarket of the Year this summer continued to impress the judges with its own brand range, from which 22 wines were awarded Silver medals including four sparkling wines; Josef Chromy from Tasmania, and three champagnes, Charles Orban Blancs de Noirs, Louis Chaurey, and Didier Ducos Absolu Meunier (all non vintage). Marks and Spencer also received 23 Bronze medals, giving it the highest medal count from a supermarket own-brand range.
- Family-run Champagne house Henriot picked up four Gold medals with its non-vintage Brut Souverain and Brut Blanc de Blancs, and its Brut Millésimé and Rosé Millésimé (both 2005).
Charles Metcalfe, Co-Chairman of the International Wine Challenge commented:
“We’ve discovered some tremendous wines during this brand new tranche of the IWC 2014 season. New Zealand wines continue to improve every year, and the country has become one of the most exciting wines producers in the world. We found some fantastic value wines, with supermarket own-brand wines performing well yet again. The Gold medal winners from the 2013 vintage prove that this new November tasting is a great way to discover excellent young wines, and we’re very excited about this new, improved schedule for the International Wine Challenge.”
New, improved schedule for the IWC
“By hosting two separate tasting events across the year, we are ensuring that no matter where or when a wine is produced, it will be given the best possible chance for success. For some wines, six months of additional aging in bottle will be the difference between medal bands, and the implications of this could be huge for a winemaker. The quality of wine we saw at this new tranche has been excellent and we’re very excited about this new, improved schedule for the International Wine Challenge.”
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