UK HAS RECORD BREAKING YEAR AT DECANTER WORLD WINE AWARDS 2025 WITH SPARKLING WINE CONTINUING TO PUSH BOUNDARIES

UK posts its largest ever medal haul and a sparkling wine receives the first ever Best in Show medal for a magnum

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, June 26, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Results from Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 (DWWA) have revealed another record-breaking year for the UK, with the largest number of medals achieved to date. Among the winners were two English sparkling magnums – one of which earned a Best in Show, marking the first time this bottle format has received the prestigious accolade.
Celebrating its 22nd year, DWWA is firmly established as the world’s largest and most influential wine competition, renowned for its rigorous judging process. At this year’s awards wines from 57 countries were evaluated by 248 top international wine experts, from 35 countries – including 22 Master Sommeliers and 72 Masters of Wine – the highest in the competition's history.
This year also saw the introduction of a new magnum category, which had been open to Champagne for the last three years but was expanded to include all sparkling wine for 2025.
The category had never garnered the highly coveted Best in Show until this year when Sugrue South Downs, The Trouble With Dreams, Sussex 2009 was awarded the top award. The top 50 Best in Show wines represent just 0.30% of wines tasted at the competition.
Judges commented: “Our competition has been open to Champagne magnums for the last three years, while this year we opened the competition to sparkling wine magnums from all origins. And guess what? It’s an English sparkling wine that’s the first to find its way in magnum to our Best in Show selection, not a Champagne.”
Further showcasing the quality of UK magnums, Squerryes, Brut, Kent 2015, was awarded a Gold medal and 95 points. One Silver and two Bronze medals were also awarded to UK sparklers in this category.
Master of Wine and DWWA Co-Chair, Sarah Jane Evans, commented: “We've been tasting a lot of Champagne, but frankly, English sparkling wine is a top tip and something very good, so look out for the medal."
UK sparkling continued to dominate the top tier medals. Digby Fine English, Rosé Brut, West Sussex 2018 and Bluestone, Blanc de Noirs Brut, Wiltshire 2019 were both awarded Platinum medals and six Gold medals were awarded to non-still wines.
Overall, the UK broke its record for medals awarded, with a total of 188 awarded wines across the country. The south of England performed well, with all the top medals coming from Kent, Sussex and Wiltshire.
East Sussex received three Gold medals for Oxney Organic Estate, Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 2019; Hoffmann & Rathbone, Blanc de Noir Brut 2015 and Breaky Bottom, Cuvée Geoffrey Aldred Chardonnay Brut 2018.
In West Sussex, Digby Fine English, Rosé Brut, 2018 received a Platinum and Ashling Park Estate, Blanc de Blancs Brut 2014 picked up a Gold.
Kent has always performed well at the awards, and this year was no exception. The county received the most medals out of any county in the UK with Gold for Gusbourne, Commanders Blanc de Blancs Brut 2019 and Squerryes, Brut 2015.
In a competition first, a wine from North Yorkshire – Dunesforde, Pinot Gris 2022 – won a medal, showcasing the diversity and geography of winemaking in the UK.
Across the UK there were 80 Silver and 99 Bronze medals. Langham, Pinot Noir Brut Nature, Dorset 2019 and Mousehall Estate, Tidebrook Staddle Stone Chardonnay, Sussex 2023 both received Silver with 94 points, narrowly missing out on a Gold.
Other counties picking up medals included Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Devon, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire and Surrey.
UK SUPERMARKETS AS TOP WINNERS
Supermarket wines continue to impress with major UK retailers including Asda, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Lidl and Aldi, highlighting the accessibility of award-winning wines to everyday consumers. Gold medal winners included:
ASDA
● Asda, Exceptional Marques Del Norte, Reserva, Rioja, Spain 2019
● Asda, Lugana, Lombardy, Italy 2024
● Asda, Exceptional Reserve, Sicily, Italy 2021
● Asda, Exceptional Gewurztraminer, Alsace, France 2022
MAJESTIC
● Zuccardi Definition Malbec, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina 2022
MARKS & SPENCER
● Collection Susana Balbo Malbec, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina 2024
WAITROSE
● Waitrose, No.1 In Partnership with Gabriel Meffre, Gigondas, Rhône, France 2022

Visit awards.decanter.com for a full list of winners.

Thomas Wright
Panthera Communications
+ +1 424-313-4869
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