IWSC announces first release of 2018 winners

The IWSC announces the first release of 2018 winners, including some superb Gold medals from Austria, Greece and Israel, and a raft of eight Gold and Gold Outstanding English sparkling wines.

Northern hemisphere wines (excluding France and Italy) will be revealed at the London Wine Fair on Monday 21 May.

The Austrian Gold medal winning wines include the Sektkellerei Gebrüder Szigeti Zero Dosage 2014, Weingut Rabl Grüner Veltliner Ried Dechant Alte Reben, Lenz Moser Selection Grüner Veltliner 2017, and Weingut Türk Eiswein vom Grünen Veltliner 2016.

The latter was described as “a superb wine” and praised by judges for its “crystalline aromas of apricots, lemon zest and orange marmalade with an ethereal gardenia nuance.”

The Israeli Gold winner Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 was described by judges as “powerful yet graceful” with “enticing savoury spice”, while the Greek Chateau Porto Carras 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon blend, which won Gold Outstanding, impressed for its freshness – a “serious, complex wine,” judges agreed. 

The eight leading English wines, meanwhile, are Breaky Bottom Cuvée Reynolds Stone 2010, Marksman English Sparkling Brut Blanc de Blancs 2014, Meunier Pinot Meunier Brut 2014, Kit's Coty Blanc de Blancs 2013, Greyfriars Vineyard Blanc de Blancs 2013, Kit's Coty Coeur de Cuvée 2013, Wiston Estate Cuvée 2009, and Bluebell Vineyard Hindleap Late Disgorged Blanc de Blancs 2008.

Many of these wines will be available for tasting on the IWSC stand (E40) throughout the three days of the London Wine Fair.

There will also be a return of the IWSC’s hugely popular London Wine Fair tasting, Old Golds, a selection of past medal winners, including Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux 2005, Chateau la Variere Bonnezeaux 1997, Royal Tokaji 6 Puttonyos Betsek 2003, and some superb wines of ten years old and more from Margaret River, Coonawarra, Stellenbosch and Paarl.

As well as this, the IWSC is running some unmissable tastings and events on its stand E40: 

• Shortlist Chardonnay and The Philosophy with Neil McGuigan
• The Natural Wine Debate with Neil McGuigan and Doug Wregg
• Ice Ice Maybe: The Canadian Wine Experience with Michelle Cherutti-Kowal MW
• Press conference: IWSC general manager Adam Lechmere announces plans for Club Oenologique, the IWSC’s high-end consumer wine and spirit club
• Home Grown Fizz: 2018 award-winning English bubbles with Susy Atkins
• “Wines for not your ordinary Joe?” with Joe Fattorini and Joe Wadsack
• The Global Gin Explosion with David T Smith