IWSC unveils trophy and final medal results

The International Wines & Spirit Competition has announced the 2014 product trophy winners at the same time as medals from this year’s Australian and New Zealand wine entries.

Australia performed particularly well with 19 Gold Outstanding medals, of which three were claimed by wines from Wolf Blass.

Among the country’s trophy winners were Australian Vintage, whose McGuigan Bin 9000 Semillon 2006 won the Semillon Trophy; Gatt Wines, whose Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 won The Warren Winiarski Trophy for Cabernet Sauvignon; and Penfolds, whose Grandfather Rare Tawny won the Trophy for Worldwide Fortified Wine.

There were nine Gold medals for New Zealand this year from a total haul of 392 medals. Among the top performing producers were Yealands Wine Estate, which took home 37 medals and Marisco Vineyards, which claimed two of the country’s Gold awards.

New Zealand also featured in the trophy line up thanks to a double win for Peren Farms’ Two Sisters Vineyard Riesling 2009, which took home both The Jancis Robinson Trophy for Riesling and The London Wine Fair Trophy for Single Vineyard White.

Other highlights from the 24 trophies awarded included a coup for South Africa as the Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs 2009 won The Denbies Trophy for Bottle Fermented Sparkling Wine. Meanwhile Chilean producer Viña Casas del Bosque scooped two trophies with its Syrah Pequeñas Producciones 2012, winner of the Shiraz/Syrah Trophy and The London Wine Fair Trophy for Single Vineyard Red.

There was also poignant success for Champagne Charles Heidsieck, whose winemaker Thierry Roset died suddenly last weekend. The house won both The Institute Oenologique Trophy for Non-Vintage Champagne and the Vintage Champagne Trophy.

Another stand out winner was Graham’s Single Harvest Tawny Port 1969, which won the Port Trophy.

This year saw the introduction of two new trophy categories, Zinfandel and Malbec, which were won by respectively by Terlato Wines International’s The Federalist 2010 and the Uco Valley’s Finca Piedras Andinas Malbec 2011.

The remaining awards, including Winemaker of the Year, Distiller of the Year and Retailer of the Year, as well as the top performing producer from each country, will be announced at the IWSC Annual Awards Banquet in London on Wednesday 12 November.

For full details of this year’s results so far or for latest updates from the Competition, visit www.iwsc.net.