The first Northern Hemisphere results of the year from the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) were announced on the first day of the London Wine Fair, Olympia. English wine entries have increased by 70% year on year and medals for home grown wines were up an impressive 63% from 2014, smashing records in the competition’s 46 year history. This success is a tribute to the wines which have all undergone the IWSC’s rigorous judging process which includes a double blind tasting.
In total, a record breaking 80 medals were awarded to English wines. This year, three English wineries achieved coveted Gold medals, including the very first IWSC medal for an English still wine. Two Gold Outstanding medals were taken home by the same Kent vineyard, Gusbourne Estate. Gold Outstanding is the highest medal distinction awarded by judges in the prestigious international competition.
The top winning English wines are:
Gold Outstanding: Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 2007 LD, Gusbourne Estate, White Sparkling
Gold Outstanding: Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 2010, Gusbourne Estate, White Sparkling
Gold: Nutbourne Sussex Reserve 2013, Nutbourne Vineyards, White Still
Gold: Gusbourne Rosé 2011, Gusbourne Estate, Rosé Sparkling
Gold: Black Dog Hill Classic Cuvee 2011, Black Dog Hill Vineyard, White Sparkling
Julia Trustram Eve, Marketing Director for English Wine Producers, comments on the announcement: “It’s great to see that English wines are continuing to prove their international status through these fantastic competition successes. It’s the consistency that is really showing just what world-class wines are produced in England.”
Ewan Lacey, General Manager of the IWSC said: “This is a brilliant result for these three English wineries, Gusbourne Estate has won three gold medal awards in all and is the only English wine to be awarded the IWSC’s highest accolade – a gold outstanding. Family owned, Sussex based Black Dog Hill Vineyard has burst onto the English wine scene with a much coveted Gold medal win for their first ever release. Nutbourne Vineyard’s Nutbourne Sussex Reserve 2013, becomes the first still English wine to take home a gold medal.”
Ben Walgate, CEO of Gusbourne Plc commented, “On behalf of the entire team at Gusbourne we are deeply honoured to have received this record number of medals and especially the unprecedented two Gold Outstanding; a first for an English vineyard. International awards of this stature are the ultimate recognition for our ongoing commitment to making wines of exceptional quality.”