International Wine Challenge reveals outstanding quality of supermarket wines while UK wine industry wins
top medals for its red, white and sparkling wines
With temperatures rising and summer on the horizon, the nation’s thoughts turn to al fresco dining andsharing a bottle of wine with friends. But it can be a daunting task selecting the perfect bottle to toast thesummer’s hottest occasions. Luckily, the International Wine Challenge, the world’s most influential, impartial
and rigorously judged wine competition, has just announced the winners of this year’s challenge, many ofwhich are available to buy from supermarkets or independent wine merchants across the nation.
Thousands of wines from over 50 countries entered the challenge and were judged by an international panelof wine experts in a series of blind tastings held in London last month. Only the very best wines were rewarded
with a medal so consumers can add these to their shopping list and know that they are guaranteed anincredible wine choice.
Outstanding value from supermarkets’ own brands
The quality of wine available in UK supermarket aisles shone through in this year’s International Wine
Challenge, particularly in the Great Value Awards with seven supermarkets being recognised for theoutstanding quality of their wines at affordable prices.
Remarkably, of the eighteen Great Value Award winners fourteen were supermarket own-label wines. Tesco
did the best with four own-brand wines receiving Great Value Awards including the Tesco Finest Tingleup
Riesling 2021 for £9.00. Morrisons and Marks & Spencer were close behind with three wines each including
the Morrisons The Best Marqués de los Ríos Rioja Gran Reserva 2012 for £12.00 and Marks & Spencer’s
Graham Beck 'The Rhona' Brut Rosé for £14.00.
‘The International Wine Challenge takes the guesswork out of shopping for wine. Looking out for IWC stickers
when choosing wine gives consumers confidence in their choices, knowing that skilled expert palates havehighlighted the very best the wine world has to offer’, said Helen McGinn, one of the six Co-Chairs of theInternational Wine Challenge.
IWC Great Value Award Winners
2022

WinePrice

IWC Great Value White between £8and £12

Paul Mas Réserve Languedoc Blanc
2021

£9.99

Waitrose

IWC Great Value White between £8and £12

Co-op Irresistible Gavi di Gavi 2021

£8.50

Co-op

IWC Great Value White between £8and £12

Tesco Finest Tingleup Riesling 2021

£9.00

Tesco

IWC Great Value Rosé between £8and £12Cintu Ile de Beaute Corsican Rosé2021£8.00

Marks & Spencer£10.99Waitrose£15.99Naked Wines

£7.00

Tesco

£11.50Asda

IWC Great Value Rosé between £8and £12
IWC Great Value Rosé Under £16
IWC Great Value Red under £8
IWC Great Value Red between £8and £12

Le Bijou de Sophie Valrose Rosé 2021
Domaine Saint Jean De Terra
Luberon 2021
Tesco Finest Montepulciano
D'Abruzzo 2019
Asda Extra Special Marques Del
Norte Rioja Gran Reserva 2015

Stockist

IWC Great Value Red Under £15

Morrisons The Best Marqués de losRíos Rioja Gran Reserva 2012

IWC Great Value Sparkling under£25

Tesco Finest Premier Cru Champagne

IWC Great Value Sparkling between£12 and £20

Morrisons The Best Etienne Leclair
Brut Champagne

IWC Great Value Sparkling between£12 and £20

Graham Beck 'The Rhona' Brut Rosé

IWC Great Value Sweet Under £15£12.00Morrisons£21.00

Tesco£20.00Morrisons£14.00Marks & Spencer

The Ned Noble Sauvignon Blanc 2021

£14.99Majestic

IWC Great Value Sweet Under £15

l'Or du Ciron Sauternes 2018£12.50Marks & Spencer

IWC Great Value Sweet between£8 and £12

Aldi Specially Selected Tokaji Aszu
2017

£10.99Aldi

IWC Great Value Fortified under £8Morrisons The Best Oloroso£6.25

Morrisons

IWC Great Value Fortified between£8 and £12

Waitrose & Partners Nº1 Manzanilla
Pasada El Benito£11.99Waitrose

IWC Great Value Fortified Under£15

Tesco Finest 10 Year Old Tawny Port

£12.00

Tesco

Tesco’s own-label wines triumph
In this year’s International Wine Challenge, 530 medals were awarded to supermarkets overall, 365 of whichwere for own-label wines. But once again, Tesco’s performance stood out, achieving the highest number ofaward-winning wines overall with a total of 123 across the Gold, Silver, Bronze and Commended categories.
Despite a strong challenge from Asda, which also proved its own label has plenty of award-winning potential,
Tesco prevailed in the Gold Medal category, bringing home an impressive four Gold Medals for its own rangeof wines. Golds also went to Waitrose, Morrisons and Aldi for their own-label offerings; however, it was Marks& Spencer that took third place in the overall own-label medal table.
Of the seven Gold Medals awarded to own-label wines, five went to fortified wines, with sherry proving aparticularly successful category for UK supermarkets. Morrisons, Waitrose and Tesco were all recognised fortheir sherries, with Morrisons The Best Oloroso, Waitrose & Partners Nº1 Manzanilla Pasada El Benito andTesco Finest Pedro Ximénez all receiving Golds. Tesco boasted Gold Medal wins for a further two fortifiedwines, the Tesco Vermouth Rosso and the Tesco Finest 10 Year Old Tawny Port.
And yet again, it was Tesco that triumphed for its still wines, taking home the only Gold Medal for an ownlabel wine with its Tesco Finest Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2019 while Aldi took that accolade for an own-label
sparkling wine with its Specially Selected Crémant de Limoux Rose.
The Spectacular Seven: Own-Label Supermarket Gold Medal Winners

Specially Selected Crémant deLimoux Rose, £6.49 Aldi

Tesco Finest Montepulciano
D'Abruzzo 2019, £7.00 Tesco

Morrisons The Best Oloroso,£6.25 Morrisons

Waitrose & Partners Nº1
Manzanilla Pasada El Benito,£11.99 Waitrose & Partners

Tesco Vermouth Rosso, £5.75
Tesco

Tesco Finest 10 Year Old TawnyPort, £12.50 Tesco

Tesco Finest Pedro Ximénez,£6.00 Tesco

Own-label supermarket medals
Supermarkets

GoldSilverBronze

CommendedGrand Total

Asda
Tesco

0
4

1016

33
3455
2798
81

Marks & Spencer
Morrisons0110824
19

27
27

6155

Waitrose
Co-op

10

5
2

8
6

8
14

22
22SPAR
Aldi

0
12
1

3
6

103

15
11

English wines go from strength to strength
For the first time ever, two Gold Medals were awarded to England’s still white wines. Both made from 100%
Chardonnay grapes, the wines that received this prestigious medal were Kit's Coty Chardonnay 2019 by Kentbased producer Chapel Down and Artefact #2 Barrel Aged Chardonnay 2020 by Sussex-based producer
Artelium, which was also awarded the English White Trophy. The only Gold Medal for a still red wine went toLyme Bay Winery for its Pinot Noir 2020.
Meanwhile, England cemented its position as one of the world’s best producers of sparkling wines, coming
second only to France for Gold Medals, with vineyards in Sussex, Kent and Oxfordshire all earning covetedGolds.
Kent led the medal wins for English wines with 30 medals, two of which were Gold and the county also tookhome the Vintage English Sparkling Trophy for the Gusbourne Exclusive Release 2018. Other wins came for
Oxfordshire’s Wyfold Vineyard Rose 2017, which was the only English sparkling rosé to be crowned Gold aswell as Sussex’s Highweald Brut Reserve, which received the coveted English Sparkling Trophy and the NonVintage English Sparkling Trophy too.

Oz Clarke, International Wine Challenge Co-Chair and author of ‘English Wine’ commented: ‘English sparklingwines have been very highly regarded for some time, but what we see now is that they have paved the way forstill wines to excel too.’
The full list of award winners in the 2022 International Wine Challenge released on 17th May can be seen here.
The IWC 2022 Champions, which are selected following a re-tasting of all trophy-winning wines by the IWC CoChairs, will be revealed at the IWC 2022 Awards announcement on Thursday 7th July.

ENDS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTES TO EDITORS:The International Wine Challenge
In its 39th year, the International Wine Challenge is accepted as the world’s most rigorous, impartial and influential winecompetition. The International Wine Challenge assesses every wine ‘blind’ and judges each for its faithfulness to style, regionand vintage. Awards include medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze) and Commended awards. Trophies are awarded to the very bestwines in each category. The International Wine Challenge is committed to helping consumers discover great wine, and themedals displayed on winning bottles offer a trusted guarantee of quality.
For more information on the IWC, please contact the IWC team at Phipps
iwc@thisisphipps.com : +44 (0) 20 3968 2455

International Wine Challenge Results 2022: Top 10 Countries ranked by Gold medal wins
Gold

SilverBronze

Commended

FranceCountry

75

367

442

451

Australia

54246

254

165

Spain

47

212

294

412

Portugal

43

163

203

215

New Zealand

1777

101

85

Italy

13144

267

390

South Africa

1383

113

133

Austria

1254

45

40

Great Britain

844

31

36

Argentina

799

129

119

Overall supermarket medals (including own label)Supermarket
Tesco

Gold
4

Silver17Bronze
46

Commended
56

TotalAsda
Waitrose0210163337

56239978MorrisonsMarks & Spencer

109112824

34277262

Aldi
Co-op20

14
4

20
1115
15

51
30

SPAR

0231015123