-
International Trophy Sparkling over £15 – Piper-Heidsieck, Brut, Champagne, France 2006
For Piper-Heidsieck cellarmaster Régis Camus, 2006 was a year of contrasts which eventually resulted in an ‘unexpectedly elegant and charming wine’
-
International Trophy Red Single-Varietal over £15 – Fabre Montmayou, HJ Fabre Barrel Selection Malbec, Patagonia, Argentina 2014
An impressive double triumph for Argentina’s Bodegas Fabre, owner of Viñalba, Fabre Montmayou and Phebus, and a regular Trophy winner at the DWWA.
-
International Trophy Red Single-Varietal under £15 – Viñalba , Parilla Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 2013
Hervé Joyaux Fabre is both winemaker and proprietor of Bodegas Fabre, which owns three wineries in Argentina: Fabre Montmayou, Viñalba and Phebus.
-
International Trophy Off-Dry over £15 – Paul Ginglinger, Gewurztraminer, Grand Cru Pfersigberg, Alsace, France 2013
For winemaker Michel Ginglinger, it’s also an ‘archetypal ambassador of the style of wines we want to express at Domaine Paul Ginglinger: a perfect balance of finesse, purity and elegance’.
-
International Trophy Red Italian Varietals under £15 – Fattoria Dianella, Il Matto delle Giuncaie, Tuscany, Italy 2013
Fattoria Dianella has an initial hit of plush, vanilla oak, but the violet-tinged, black cherry, cranberry, raspberry and red berry fruit comes forward and proves more than a match.
-
International Trophy Rosé over £15 – Château La Tour de l’Evêque, Pétale de Rose, Côtes de Provence, France 2014
-
International Trophy Rosé under £15 – Château Salettes, Bandol, Provence, France 2014
One of the most venerable estates in Provence’s Bandol appellation, Château Salettes produces a benchmark rosé, given extra depth and character by the estate’s sun-kissed Mourvèdre vines.
-
International Trophy Red Italian Varietals over £15 – Rivetto, Leon, Barolo Riserva, Piedmont, Italy 2009
Enrico Rivetto, a fourth-generation Langhe winemaker whose great-grandfather set up shop in the centre of Alba in 1902, has strong views on modern technology.
-
International Trophy Pinot Noir under £15 – Elgin Vintners, South Africa 2012
Praised as ‘Burgundian’, Elgin Vintners took this International Trophy over another greatvalue New World rival.
-
International Trophy Red Spanish Varietals under £15 – Olarra, Laztana, Rioja Reserva, Spain 2010
Family-owned since its foundation in 1973, Olarra has expanded over the years, establishing a second Rioja winery, Bodegas Ondarre, and an operation in Castilla called Casa del Valle.
-
International Trophy Red Spanish Varietals over £15 – Lan, Culmen, Rioja Reserva, Spain 2010
-
International Trophy Pinot Noir over £15 – Domaine de la Vougeraie, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru, Burgundy, France 2013
-
International Trophy winner Dry Aromatic under £15 – El Esteco, Amaru High Vineyards Torrontés, Calchaquí Valley, Salta, Argentina 2014 (13.5%)
-
International Trophy Dry Riesling under £15 – Viña Leyda, Single Vineyard Neblina Riesling, Leyda Valley,Chile 2013
According to Viña Leyda winemaker Viviana Navarrete, it owes much to the qualities of the valley which gives the producer its name, and in whose early development the company was instrumental.
-
International Trophy Dry Riesling over £15 – Leasingham, Classic Clare Riesling, South Australia 2009
The judges adored Leasingham’s combination of great freshness and minerality with an appealing roundness, which they said was ‘hard to fault’.
-
International Trophy Sauvignon Blanc under £15 – Small and Small, Sylvia Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand 2014
A trio of New World Sauvignon Blancs were in the running for this International Trophy, but it was Small and Small’s Marlborough example that won the day for its textbook expression of the grape.
-
International Trophy Sauvignon Blanc over £15 – Bay of Fires, Sauvignon Blanc, Tasmania, Australia 2014
-
International Trophy Chardonnay under £15 – Marks & Spencer, Mâcon-Villages, Burgundy, France 2014
-
International Trophy Chardonnay over £15 – Anthony Joseph Vidal, Legacy Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand 2012
The judges’ description of the wine is in tune with Vidal winemaker Hugh Crichton’s mission to achieve power and restraint in his wines, alongside concentration, complexity and fine texture.
-
International Trophy White Single-Varietal under £15 – Perdeberg, The Dry Land Collection, Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc, Paarl, South Africa 2013
Perdeberg has accumulated a large collection of old-vine Chenin in the Agter- Paarl area, viewed as the ideal region for the variety.
-
International Trophy White Single-Varietal over £15 – Tiefenbrunner, Feldmarschall von Fenner zu Fennberg, Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy 2013
-
International Trophy White Blend under £15 – DeMorgenzon, Maestro, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2014
-
International Trophy White Blend over £15 – Château Brown, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France 2013
Jean-Christophe Mau bought Château Brown in 2004. Born into a family of wine merchants, his career began with the purchase of Château Preuillac in 1998.
-
International Trophy Off-Dry under £15 – Paul Cluver, Marks & Spencer Ferricrete Riesling, Elgin, South Africa 2014
'Riesling is one of the most amazing grape varieties in the world but, like most things that are very rewarding, it is also very challenging,’ says Paul Cluver Jr.
-
International Trophy Red Bordeaux Varietals under £15 – Indomita, Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva, Maipó Valley, Chile 2014 (14%)
Since 2005, this wine has been made from a single-vineyard lot in the coastal area of Chile’s Maipó Valley, in what the Indomita team describes as a ‘heavenly spot with rolling hills’.
-
International Trophy Red Bordeaux Varietals over £15 – Miguel Torres , Reserva Real, Penedès, Spain 2010
A WINE CREATED to mark the visit of King Juan Carlos to the Torres winery during its 125th anniversary in 1995, Reserva Real also celebrates a unique vineyard in Penedès.
-
International Trophy Red Rhône Varietals under £15 – Lomond, Cat’s Tail Syrah, Cape Agulhas, South Africa 2012
Lomond is part of the Cape Legends portfolio, the fine wine division of South Africa’s largest wine and spirits company,
-
International Trophy Red Rhône Varietals over £15 – Sidewood, Mappinga Shiraz, Adelaide Hills, South Australia 2013
Key to Sidewood’s success is diversity in its vineyards, which have three soil types, differing orientations and five clones of Shiraz.
-
International Trophy Red Blend under £15 – Château Bouissel, Fronton, Southwest France 2011
Château Bouissel believes those grapes are one of its major assets – particularly the Negrette, a variety native to Fronton, with its rich, aromatic character and silky tannins.
-
International Trophy Sweet over £15 – Ptujska Klet, Pullus, Laški Rizling, Podravje, Slovenia 2012
But if you belong to that generation, hold the thought and take a look at the list of wines that Ptujska Klet beat to win this year’s International Trophy.
-
International Trophy Red Blend over £15 – McWilliam’s, 1877, Australia 2008
-
International Trophy Sweet under £15 – Longview, Epitome Late Harvest Riesling, Adelaide Hills, South Australia 2013
Brothers Mark and Peter Saturno, founders and owners of Longview, planted Riesling vines in 1997 on the estate’s ‘most unforgiving’ soils, composed mostly of ironstone over a compacted clay layer.
1
2