International Wine Challenge sees supermarket wines crowned value champions

Wine lovers and savvy shoppers unite as the International Wine Challenge (IWC) reveals its 2019
Great Value Champions. Selected from the Great Value Trophy winners, following further rigorous
blind tasting by a panel of international wine experts, the IWC has selected five world-class, budgetfriendly wines as its winners.
Four of the five winners are available from UK supermarkets, three of which are supermarket ownlabel wines. With a champion sparkling, red, white, sweet and fortified wine and none retailing for
more than £17, it’s not just the supermarkets that will be celebrating.
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Summer will be sparkling thanks to Aldi, who won the award for IWC Great Value ChampionSparkling 2019 with Veuve Monsigny Champagne Rosé NV. Aldi was the only supermarket togain a Gold medal for an own-label rosé Champagne. Available for £16.99 from Aldi.
A crowd-pleasing New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, the Cowrie Bay Sauvignon
Blanc 2018, impressed judges and won the IWC Great Value Champion White 2019. Availablefor £7.49 from Waitrose.
Casa Ferreirinha Papa Figos Red 2017 from Portugal took home the IWC Great Value
Champion Red 2019. Available for £10.99 from a variety of retailers including VINVM, KWM
Wine & Spirits, Wholefoods, Amazon.
Another own-label champion, Waitrose Palo Cortado "Torre del Oro" won the award for IWC
Great Value Champion Fortified 2019. Available for £11.99 from Waitrose.
To finish on a sweet note, the IWC Great Value Champion Sweet 2019 was awarded to Tesco
Finest Dessert Semillon 2015. This Australian award-winner is available for a wallet-friendly £6for 37.5cl from Tesco.

Good news for ethical shoppers – Fairtrade wine doesn’t have to break the bank, and it can be worldclass too. The IWC Fairtrade Award 2019 went to the Co-op for its Fairtrade Organic Malbec 2017.
With spicy rich blackberry fruits this ripe Malbec is a steal at £7.50.
In another triumph for the supermarkets, both the IWC Red and White Winemaker of the Year,selected from across the whole competition, both produce wines that are available in UKsupermarkets. Neil McGuigan of McGuigan Wines, who have a popular range in UK supermarkets, wasnamed IWC White Winemaker 2019. Similarly, Dylan Lee and Kym Milne MW of Bird in Hand wines,
also widely available on supermarket shelves in the UK, took home the prize for IWC Red Winemakerof the Year.
Tesco was awarded the IWC Own Label Range of the Year 2019, fighting off stiff competition fromBerry, Brothers & Rudd who have won the award for the last two years.
Waitrose had a stellar night in the IWC Merchant Awards UK, winning four prestigious titles including
IWC Specialist Merchant Champagne and Sparkling 2019, IWC Specialist Merchant England 2019, IWC
Specialist Merchant Rosé 2019 and IWC Supermarket of the Year 2019, it was also crowned IWC Wine
Merchant of the Year 2019, which the judges award to the best merchant in the competition.

Charles Metcalfe, International Wine Challenge Co-Chairman, commented: “UK supermarkets offer areal treasure-trove of delicious wines for anyone who looks at our 2019 Awards before shopping. Aldi,
the Co-op, Tesco and Waitrose all have top wines, for excellent value. We have done the legwork ofidentifying the winners on supermarket shelves. They’re there, and we hope wine-lovers will enjoy
them as much as we did.”This year’s winners were announced on 9th July and the full list of those awarded can be seen here, andthe Merchant Awards results here.

NOTES TO EDITORS:The International Wine Challenge
In its 36th year, the International Wine Challenge is accepted as the world’s most rigorous, impartial andinfluential wine competition. The IWC assesses every wine ‘blind’ and judges each for its faithfulness to style,region and vintage. Each medal-winning wine is tasted on at least three separate occasions by a minimum of 12
different judges including Masters of Wine. Awards include medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze) and Commendedawards.
The IWC Merchant Awards UK
The Merchant Awards were introduced to the IWC in 1990. A distinguished panel of judges examines each entry
and, over the course of two days, decides on the winners for each category. The judges focus on the businessside of retailing; it’s not just about having great wines. This year the judging panel comprised Laura Jewell MW,
Helen McGinn, Peter McCombie MW, Tim Atkin MW and Charles Metcalfe. Laure Patry joined the team to assist
with the judging of the Restaurant Wine List award.
The IWC is committed to helping consumers discover great wine, and the medals displayed on winning bottles
and in winning shops 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 7759 7400 : 17 Exeter Street, London, WC2E 7DU, UK