The International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) has recently announced the results of thousands of entries judged by a team of more than 120 international experts. This panel included over 20 Masters of Wine and nearly a dozen Master Sommeliers. The results are available in an online database.
Champagne stood out with a great performance, securing 11 gold medals and highlighting its enduring excellence. France led the way in the country medal tally, amassing nearly 700 medals, of which 27 were gold. Italy and Australia also impressed, ranking among the top three with nearly 550 and almost 340 medals respectively.
Some of my personal picks were recognised, with the Co-op Les Pionniers Brut 2013 notably winning a gold medal.
However, it’s important to keep in perspective that only a small proportion of wines are submitted to such competitions. Therefore, the absence of an award should not necessarily be seen as a mark against a wine’s quality. It’s also not made public which wines were entered but did not receive awards.
