England triumphs in IWC

By Lisa Riley

Published: 10 May, 2019

England’s winemakers scooped 11 Gold, 50 Silver and 60 Bronze medals in the International Wine Challenge (IWC), placing it ninth in the medals table. Ten of England’s 11 Gold medals were awarded to sparkling wines.

Sussex-based producers won seven of the 11 Golds. Nyetimber won three Gold medals, two Silvers and a Bronze, with its Classic Cuvee 2009 receiving the English Sparkling Trophy, considered the highest accolade for sparkling wine in the UK.

Sussex-based producers also had two of the three top-scoring wines with both Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2009 and Ridgeview Blanc de Blancs 2014 scoring 96/100. The Ridgeview wine also won the English Blanc de Blancs Trophy.

The only other wine to score 96/100, and the only English still wine to win Gold, was Chapel Down’s Kit's Coty Chardonnay 2016. It was also awarded the English White Trophy.

Digby, Fox & Fox, Ridgeview and Sugrue Pierre also won Gold medals, while the English Sparkling Rose Trophy went to Surrey producer Greyfriars Vineyard’s Sparkling Rose Reserve 2014.

“2018 was a glorious year for English wine in terms of both quality and quantity, and we’ve seen a hint of what’s to come with the still whites,” said IWC event director Chris Ashton. “The wide range of medal-winning producers, counties and vintages – from 2009 to 2018 – shows that English wine now has strength in depth.”

Oz Clarke, IWC co-chair, said England’s success was the result of “a combination of climate change, increased knowledge and more investment”.

Printer friendly version