‘A world-class producer’: English wines toast record gold medal haul

Key points

• English wines won the highest percentage of gold medals per entry in a global competition, with experts describing the improvement as remarkable.
• At the International Wine Challenge, English wines are winning more gold medals than ever.
• In 2025, the country won 10, but this year it was awarded 25. Sam Caporn, a master of wine, said: “I think there are a number of reasons why England did so well this year.
• One of them is that for many of the top producers, the vines are getting older which leads to greater quality;
• Nyetimber’s first vintage for example was in 1992 so actually over 30 years ago now.” She added that the wines were being matured for longer: “There is also the possibility of increased bottle age – Wiston for example, won a trophy for their Cuvee 2009 Magnum and reserve wines are also taking on more complexity with every year...