A high profile winner in the Decanter World Wine Awards is an own-label Asda supermarket Malbec, thanks to a multitude of coverage in the national press.

Extraordinary demand crashed the Asda website after surprise medal win in world’s largest wine competition
Asda has discounted its award winning wine to bargain price of under £5

Sales soared after the supermarket won a platinum – best in show award at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2016 for its own-label Asda, La Moneda Reserva Malbec 2015 from Chile’s Central Valley, now discounted to just £4.37. The own label wine stood out amongst international competitors in the Best Red Single-Varietal Under £15 category, scoring 95 points out of 100 points.

Which supermarket wines won top awards? DWWA 2016

‘An absolute crowd pleaser’

Decanter’s prestigious competition received over 16,000 entries this year. The platinum – best in show winner was tasted blind against other Malbec blends from Chile during judging week in London at the end of April when it received a gold medal. It was then put forward to be judged against its international peers for a platinum medal, which it achieved in the face of stiff competition. Judges have credited this wine as ‘an absolute crowd pleaser’ which has been ‘beautifully executed, full of energy with a great price point’.

DWWA 2016 judging week coverage

The UK media were quick to cover this great value win, with over 72 articles being published within hours of the announcement. The Telegraph captured the moment well with reaction from Ed Betts, Wine Buying Manager at Asda: The Telegraph: Asda’s bargain red wine for under £5 wins prestigious award – and crashes website

The UK press also went on to report that “Asda confirmed that sales grew by over 150 per cent year-on-year following the award win.”

Every wine entered is tasted blind in its own wine category and receives on average four minutes of assessment and discussion from the world’s top wine professionals, 240 of whom gathered at the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2016.

DWWA 2016 judging panel

Sarah Kemp, Decanter‘s publishing director says, “Each wine is a year of someone’s hard work and so it is very important to allow time to appreciate and discuss the wine for an award.”