What The 2025 Results Tell Us About the Global Wine Scene

This year's IWSC wine results delivered some genuine surprises: a Georgian qvevri wine and a Burgundian Chardonnay both claimed Gold medals. An English sparkling wine outshone top Champagnes. A Japanese Chardonnay earned near-unanimous praise from seasoned judges. If one thread unites the IWSC's 2025 results, it's that great wine no longer follows a single map. Across more than 12,000 entries from 90+ countries, clear patterns emerged revealing fundamental shifts in quality, style and consumer alignment. From Gold to Bronze, quality proved genuinely borderless across the medal spectrum.

Here are the five key trends that defined this year's wine results:

1. The New Geography of Great Wine

Traditional strongholds like France, Italy, Spain and Australia remain firmly in place, but 2025 proved that excellence is now undeniably global. Eleven countries earned Gold medals in red wine alone, whilst the breadth of medal winners showcase democratised quality:

• Japan's Chardonnay from Nagano and Hiroshima impressed seasoned judges, with Rebecca Palmer noting wines that "would give many white Burgundies a run for their money"
• Canada secured 71 red wine Bronze medals and dominated sweet wine categories, with six of 15 Bronze sweet wine medals for their icewines
• Georgia once again lead the orange wine winners, but also impressed with their serious age-worthy Saperavi red portfolios
• England achieved a staggering 93% medal rate across sparkling entries, including bringing home seven of 18 Gold medal awards
• Even Mexico, Cyprus, Moldova, Ukraine and Myanmar earned Bronze medals, pointing to a future where regional identity and quality trump old hierarchies

2. The Drinkability Revolution

Across categories, especially in red wines, judges consistently rewarded balance, freshness and approachability over sheer power or extraction. This represents a fundamental shift in winemaking philosophy that mirrors changing consumer preferences, including:

• Red wine Bronze medals revealed producers from historically hot climates like Portugal and Argentina are picking earlier, extracting less and crafting wines with harmony and lift
• Champagne's pivot toward Brut Nature styles and emphasis on vintage Blanc de Noirs signals a turn away from heavily autolytic character toward fruit clarity and textural finesse
• Italian Proseccos earned praise for cleaner, drier expressions with refined mousse texture
• Even fortified wine makers are innovating, using dry extract for structural balance.

This drinkability factor spans continents, from Languedoc's value-driven approach outperforming Bordeaux (16 vs 7 Silver medals) to Australia delivering exceptional mid-tier quality.

3. Silver Medals: The Wine World's Best-Kept Secret

Silver medal winners represent the sweet spot where precision meets commercial viability. These wines offer expressiveness and terroir definition that often rivals Gold medal quality, but at more accessible price points, making them the smart money for buyers and consumers alike:

• Dirceu Vianna Junior MW described Silver wines as "textbook examples of their kind" that you'd "use in a masterclass or pour for a client to demonstrate what the category does best"
• Whether it's a layered Albariño from Spain, precise Riesling from Canada, or cool-climate Syrah from New Zealand, these wines reflect their grape and region beautifully
• France dominated with 51 Silver white wine medals, but Australia's 16 Silver medals represent exceptional value for money, as Alex Hunt MW noted

For sommeliers, importers and retailers, Silver represents where serious quality meets commercial opportunity.

4. Bronze Means Business

Bronze medals in 2025 were not participation trophies - they are evidence of rising global standards and genuine commercial potential. With judges tasting only 65 wines daily and awarding Bronze to roughly one-third of entries, even Bronze recognition represents rigorous evaluation and meaningful achievement:

• Supermarket retailer Asda secured 10 rosé Bronze medals, whilst Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Tesco own-labels featured across categories
• These aren't "good for the price" - they're simply good wines that happen to be accessible
• In red wines, Alistair Cooper MW noted how "wines that previously scored no medal" are now earning Bronze, signalling that "the bar has been raised in several countries"
• Rosé Bronze results highlighted wines from Italy, Spain and England that were fresh, early-drinking, and perfectly aligned with market trends

This democratisation proves that quality winemaking has successfully scaled beyond boutique production, offering consumers genuine excellence at various price points.

5. Innovation Flourishing Across Blurring Boundaries

The 2025 results showcased a wine world that's less rigid, more curious and increasingly open to wines that tell a story rather than follow a script. Traditional category boundaries are dissolving as innovation flourishes:

• Orange wines have evolved from niche curiosity to global category, with Georgia leading but Austria, Japan, and France all earning medals
• Sweet and fortified wines are quietly evolving, with dry extract, texture and versatility emerging as new judging criteria beyond traditional sweetness
• English rosé earned three Silver medals, with judges noting quality that exceeded expectations across different regions and grape varieties
• Even sparkling wine shows increasing stylistic diversity, from traditional-method precision to tank-method innovation

These shifts suggest a maturing industry that values authenticity and innovation equally.

Wine's Future: Confident, Diverse and Delicious

The 2025 IWSC results paint a picture of a maturing, decentralised and refreshingly open-minded wine industry. Quality is no longer tied to postcode or prestige - it emerges wherever passion meets precision. Traditional leaders like Spain and Portugal continue dominating fortified wines, France leads still whites, and Italy maintains remarkable range - but they now share the spotlight with unexpected contenders who bring fresh perspectives and compelling stories. As judges repeatedly noted, a great wine today is not just about technical polish - it's about place, purpose and personality.

Explore the full range of IWSC 2025 results and discover how the wine world has transformed.