“The IWC has a complex, two-round selection process, and the wine competition takes place across two weeks. In the first round, the wines considered not worthy of a medal are weeded out, and the rest continue to round two. Then, to verify, the co-chairs taste only those wines the panelist judges have declared not deserving of a medal. Then, if they find that the panelists have made a mistake, they bring back the kicked-out wines for another tasting in round two without anyone knowing.”, explains one of the IWC judges.
Credits: International Wine Challenge
“In the second round, we are tasting only those wines that have been deemed medal-worthy, and then, the co-chairs reevaluate each wine in the medal-worthy group. If their score is lower or higher than the one we gave them, we are informed about the fact.”
Credits: International Wine Challenge
Because of this complex, two-round selection process and considerable diligence put forth, where everyone checks on everyone else and even rechecks themselves, the IWC is seen as the strictest competition in the world.
The IWC is very conservative and does not want to abandon its selection process and the classes of medals a wine can win. The Commended Award is given to wines deemed not medal-worthy, while the Gold Medal is awarded to the top wines in the competition, with Bronze and Silver medals between the two. At the IWC, there are no Platinum, Double Gold, and similar types of popular medals.
Credits: International Wine Challenge
However, winning Gold does not mean it’s the end of the road for these wines. Gold-winning wines qualify for the IWC Trophy judging, in which the co-chairs select Sub-Regional, Regional, National, and International Trophy winners. On top of that, a wine can also be crowned winner of the Champion Wine Trophy, meaning it’s the best in a given year in one of the five categories — red, white, rosé, sparkling, and sweet and fortified.
Additionally, several other accolades are given, such as the IWC Winemaker of the Year Award and Planet Earth Awards for Gold and Trophy-winning wines that are recognized as sustainable, organic, biodynamic, or Fairtrade.
The highest scoring wines
A few days ago, the IWC announced the 40 highest-scoring wines of the 2022 competition.
Credits: International Wine Challenge
“Following a series of rigorous blind tastings, winners from sixteen countries were named the best wines in the world, as judged by a panel of leading global wine experts. Of these 40 exceptional wines, five were awarded the ultimate accolade of Champion, a title reserved for wines deemed the absolute best-in-class in the categories of red, white, rosé, sparkling, and sweet and fortified. France excelled this year, achieving the most medals overall and also earning two coveted Champion trophies.”, says the IWC in its statement.
Here is a list of some of this year’s winners:
Great Value Champion Awards
๐ณ๐ฟ The Ned Noble Sauvignon Blanc 2021 IWC Great Value Champion Sweet 2022
๐ช๐ธ Morrisons The Best Oloroso IWC Great Value Champion Fortified 2022
๐ซ๐ท Tesco Finest Premier Cru Champagne NV IWC Great Value Champion Sparkling 2022
๐ซ๐ท Cintu Ile de Beaute Corsican Rosé 2021 IWC Great Value Champion Rosé 2022
๐ซ๐ท Paul Mas Réserve Languedoc Blanc 2021 IWC Great Value Champion White 2022
๐ฎ๐น Tesco Finest Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2019 IWC Great Value Champion Red 2022
Credits: TasteAtlas
Own Label Awards
๐ฌ๐ง Tesco IWC Own Label Range of the Year 2022
Planet Earth Awards
๐ฟ๐ฆ Spar Reserve Chenin Blanc Fairtrade 2021 IWC Fairtrade Award 2022
๐ณ๐ฟ Trinity Hill Wines Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay 2020 IWC Sustainable Trophy 2022
๐ณ๐ฟ Giesen Single Vineyard Clayvin Syrah 2019 IWC Organic Trophy 2022
Sake Awards
๐ฏ๐ต Inoue Seikich Sawahime Ginjo IWC Champion Sake 2022
๐ฏ๐ต Niizawa Sake Brewery Atagonomatsu Betsushikomi Honjozo IWC Great Value Champion Sake 2022
๐ฏ๐ต Niizawa Sake Brewery Co Ltd IWC Sake Brewery of the Year 2022
Champion Wine Awards
๐ฎ๐น Tenuta Di Capezzana Vinsanto di Carmignano Capezzana Riserva 2014 IWC Champion Sweet Wine 2022
๐ช๐ธ Bodegas Tradicion Oloroso Tradicion VORS IWC Champion Fortified Wine 2022
๐ณ๐ฟ Trinity Hill Wines Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay 2020 IWC Champion White Wine 2022
๐ซ๐ท Maison Delas Frères Les Bessards 2019 IWC Champion Red Wine 2022
๐ซ๐ท Rare Champagne Millésime 2008 IWC Champion Sparkling Wine 2022
Credits: TasteAtlas
Winemaker Awards
๐ฆ๐น Hans Tschida from Winery Tschida Angerhof IWC Sweet Winemaker of the Year 2022
๐ต๐น Luís Sottomayor from Sandeman IWC Fortified Winemaker of the Year 2022
๐ซ๐ท Cyril Brun from Charles Heidsieck IWC Sparkling Winemaker of the Year 2022
๐ซ๐ท Vincent Bartement from La Chablisienne IWC White Winemaker of the Year 2022
๐ซ๐ท Christophe Briotet from Edouard Delaunay IWC Red Winemaker of the Year 2022
IWC Special Awards
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Highweald Estate Brut Reserve NV IWC Best Wine in First Year of Production 2022
๐ต๐น Sogevinus Fine Wines IWC Award For Consistency over 5 years 2022
Check out the complete list here:
https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/trophy-results-2022.html
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