Wines of the Year 2025: Rest of the World

The task of reducing a huge field to just five wines to represent the expansive ‘global discovery’ category was made slightly easier this year, since many of our key finds from southeastern Europe earned a place in one of the panel tastings in this issue.

Apart from this, it has been an enthralling 12 months across these diverse regions. Decanter’s Georgie Hindle loved the almost viscous palate of Schloss Johannisberg’s Goldlack Riesling Trocken 2022, reflecting one of the hottest summers on record in Germany’s Rheingau region.

Ktima Gerovassiliou’s single-vineyard Malagousia 2024, a DWWA Best in Show winner, emerged as one of Greece’s standout wines in 2025, as highlighted by Olly Smith in his ‘Greek white wines beyond Assyrtiko’ article on Decanter Premium in April.

From Austria, Andreas Gsellmann’s Ried Gabarinza Blaufränkisch 2021 was the top-scorer in this year’s ‘Blaufränkisch across Europe’ panel tasting (August issue), with judges noting its poised balance.

While in her ‘Expert’s choice’ feature on Hungary’s famous sweet wine (December 2024 issue), Beth Willard praised Royal Tokaji’s Mézes Mály 6 Puttonyos 2018, part of its single-vineyard Tokaji Aszú range.

Finally, in my tastings of English sparkling wines, I was hugely impressed by Hambledon’s Blanc de Blancs Cuvée, based on the excellent 2018 vintage and notable for its richly autolytic sophistication after four years’ maturing on the lees.

Stellar discoveries from Asia also merit a mention (see decanter.com for full details). From Greater China, the Bordeaux blends Ao Yun 2021 (96pts) and Domaine de Long Dai 2018 (95pts) were among the year’s top scorers, while Domaine Shu Sheng’s Moscato Oro Vino Fortificato (95pts) from Taiwan was a wonderful surprise.

Wines of the year 2025: Rest of the World

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