• Hampshire producer Hattingley Valley Wines is Supreme Champion 2020
  • 17 Trophies Awarded to Gold medal winning wines
  • 100 producers entered the Awards with 27 counties represented
  • 245 medals were awarded, of which 34 Gold, 98 Silver and 113 Bronze

In a virtual ceremony, this year’s WineGB Awards Trophy winners were announced via video link today at midday by the judging panel, comprising Co-Chairs TV wine experts Susie Barrie MW and Oz Clarke OBE, and Rebecca Palmer, wine buyer for leading independent wine merchants Corney & Barrow.

Showcasing one of the world’s most exciting wine regions, the calibre of judges and competition partners make the WineGB Awards the major competition for Great Britain’s wines and wine producers.

Notable trophies include Newcomer of the Year was won by Black Chalk Winery; Boutique Producer of the Year was awarded to Sugrue South Downs and the Winery of the Year was named as Wiston Estate. Ashling Park in Sussex scooped two trophies: Best Classic Cuvée NV and Best Sparkling Rosé. The Top Still Wine Trophy went to Chapel Down for their Kit’s Coty Chardonnay 2017. The Top Sparkling Trophy and Supreme Champion Award were awarded to Hattingley Valley Wines for their Kings Cuvée 2014.

The competition has been supported by many key suppliers to the industry and long-standing trade champions through sponsorship of the trophies.

Master of Wine, writer and viticulture consultant Stephen Skelton MW was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the English and Welsh wine industry. This is a special award presented by WineGB with the winner selected by the WineGB Board.

Susie Barrie MW says: “This year more than ever we need to get the message out there about how great English and Welsh wines are, and get more and more people buying and drinking the wines. I am loving the innovation we are seeing from our winemakers and the way they are pushing every boundary – we have sweet wines, skin contact wines, Pet Nat styles and even sparkling Merlot. The competition gave us a fantastic overview of the wines that are available in the market right now, and we were so impressed with the quality.”

This year the Competition acknowledged the top scoring wines from each of the WineGB regions. The winners of the Best Regional Wines are:
• Wales – White Castle Vineyard Sparkling White Wine Vintage 2017
• West – Sharpham Wine Ltd Bacchus Stop Ferment 2019
• Thames & Chilterns – Harrow & Hope Blanc de Noirs 2015
• Midlands & North – Laneberg Wine Ltd Bacchus 2019
• East Anglia – Tuffon Hall Vineyard Pinot Rosé Beatrice 2019
• South East (joint winner) – Ashling Park Estate Ashling Park Cuvée NV and Chapel Down Kit’s Coty Coeur de Cuvée 2014
• Wessex – Hattingley Valley Wines Kings Cuvée 2014

Oz Clarke adds: “I’ve been enthusing about English wines for almost as long as I have been enthusing about wine! I have watched and felt the improvement in our sparkling wines and our still wines year by year. The kind of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay still wines that we make now, we just couldn’t make even five years ago. The quality of the classic cuvées we are seeing as people lay down reserves and manage to blend them together in their non-vintage styles is simply fabulous.”

8 September would have been the day of WineGB’s annual trade and press tasting, which has been cancelled due to COVID-19. In its place, a trade listing of the Medal and Trophy winners has been created. The digital listing allows the wines to be sorted by award, style, producer, vintage and varietal and includes a technical sheet on each by linking on each listing, to provide full information to trade buyers.

“Given that the pandemic cast doubt about the annual competition even taking place, this year’s Awards ceremony celebrates the fact that despite all the challenges the competition went ahead, not least due to the commitment of our fantastic judges, co-chairs Susie Barrie MW and Oz Clarke, and Rebecca Palmer” commented Julia Trustram Eve, Marketing Manager at WineGB.

Ends

Notes to Editors:
• The full list of Trophy Winners is below
• The competition judging took place in July, with strict safety measures in place
• The medal results are available on the WineGB website www.winegb.co.uk
• Trade buyers and wine press can access the digital listing of winners via the trade pages on WineGB website https://www.winegb.co.uk/trade/wgb-awards-2020-trade/wgb-awards-2020-catalogue/

You can view the WineGB Awards virtual Trophy ceremony here

Photography: https://www .dropbox.com/sh/szxor8hxt23m3tz/AABrVRPULLxG0lBKu2SFgHuha?dl=0

For further information about the Awards event, or to arrange interviews with the winning producers or the judges please contact:

Julia Trustram Eve on tel: 07775 760451 or email julia@winegb.co.uk

Or

Madeleine Waters tel: 07778 702221 email: madeleine@weareco.co.uk