WineGB Awards 2025 Trophy Winners
This year’s trophy winners were unveiled at the WineGB Awards Ceremony on 17 July at Southwark Cathedral, London. A list can be found below along with points scores and judges’ comments.
The full list of medal-winning wines and points scores can be found here.
🏆Supreme Champion
Sponsored by Rankin
🏆Best Sparkling Wine
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
🏆Best Premium Sparkling
Sponsored by Enartis
Langham Wine Estate Perpetual MV, Dorset
Points: 99
“A soaring, world-class example of grower-style sparkling wine. Bright red apples and crunchy yellow pears, with a subtle toastiness. Palate is reminiscent of blanched almonds. Elegant brioche and baked apple aromas. Long finish, pretty dry – albeit with some lovely creamy autolytic texture and a saline yeasty complexity.“
🏆Best Still Wine
Sponsored by The PIG Hotels
🏆Best White Wine
Sponsored by Riedel
🏆Best Chardonnay
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
Lyme Bay Martin’s Lane Chardonnay 2020, Devon
Points: 98
“The wine is attractive on the nose, with some buttered toast and honeyed cereals. The palate is powerful, delivering high energy and structure simultaneously. Hint of green apple cordial and struck flint reduction, combine well. Wine is full and harmonious, well balanced, fresh but not tart. An incredibly accomplished expression of cool-climate Chardonnay.”
🏆Best Red Wine
Sponsored by The Carling Partnership
🏆Best Pinot Noir
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
Blackbook Winery Nightjar 2022, London
Points: 96
“Pale, slightly heady opulent cherry aromas. The generosity of 2022 shining through? Lovely tangy acidity. Real intensity and spicy energy on the finish. Lots of wine, tense, umami-opulent, serious and layered. It definitely stands out in the context. Gorgeous nose recalling Fourrier style, black tea delicacy, crushed strawberries, hints of rhubarb and white roses. The palate has tension, density, structure. It is complex, multidimensional, wet leaves sensation and a phenolic/stemmy grip. Delicately floral, fragrant, scented, palate has vivid acidity and lovely crunch, proper structure, light body, fine fragrance.“
🏆Best Vintage Sparkling
Sponsored by Core Equipment
🏆Best Classic Cuvée
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
🏆Best Boutique Wine
Sponsored by Vetreria Etrusca
Domaine Hugo, Hugo 2020, Wiltshire
Points: 98
“Mineral-driven, hazelnut-laced, umami-opulent aromatics, full of butter and marmite, before a tangy, tart palate with umami-opulent hints. Soaring apple brioche aromas, with ripe yellow apples alongside white chocolate and toasted bread. Expressive and engaging. Creamy, complete, serious, umami-opulent, stunning. Long lasting, mineral finish with energetic acidity.“
🏆Best Non-Vintage Sparkling
Sponsored by Ferovinum
Langham Wine Estate Culver Classic Cuvée NV, Dorset
Points: 97
“Evocatively smoky, more Pinot-dominant style with hints of marzipan. Complex yeasty bruised red apple and green pears aromas with green herbs and white flowers. Bracing acidity at its core, chalky green apple acidity. Then savoury yeasty complexity. Broad palate, umami-opulent mouth-coating. Gastronomic, beautifully balanced. It’s layered, engaging and serious, very accomplished. Aged reserve wine coming through, the palate is precise and well defined. Wonderful classic cuvée style. Serious! A little edgy and aldehydic too, but in a good way. Tastes low dosage (and is). Lovely freshness and vibrancy.“
🏆Best Blanc de Blancs
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
Langham Wine Estate Blanc de Blancs NV, Dorset
Points: 97
“Mid gold. Elegant but bold, umami, toasty and yeasty aromas. Lots of mouth-watering acidity but also oozing character. Bruised apple, spiced brioche, and layers of toasty and yeasty complexity. Opulent, complex aromatics, hints of lees and hops, brioche and sourdough. Delicious fizz in a very English orchard style. Definite briny saline top note. The palate is energetic, with a vibrant explosive mousse, creamy citrus lemon notes and a pure, saline finish. Very serious. Dry but balanced. Impressive.“
🏆Best Blanc de Noirs
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
Langham Wine Estate Pinot Noir 2019, Dorset
Points: 97
“Deepish hue. Peanut initially! Quite aldehydic and complex and umami-opulent. Palate shows low dosage but not unbalanced. Gastronomic and serious. Characterful. Complex with candle wax, creamy well integrated mousse, long finish. A more mature style.“
🏆Best Sparkling Rosé
Sponsored by Paris Smith
Black Chalk Wild Rose 2021, Hampshire
Points: 95
“Old gold with a hint of salmon. Autolytic red apple and sour cherry fruit. Aromatics of dried herbs, potpourri, blood orange and ruby grapefruit. Really lovely balance, lovely toasty and yeasty red fruited style. The dosage is good here and it just works. Good length, tangy acids. Toasty and yeasty autolytic style. Complex, umami-opulent, gastronomic.“
🏆Best Sparkling Blend
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
Stonyfield English Sparkling Wine White 2019, Northamptonshire
Points: 92
“Creamy cheesy, toasty and yeasty aromas. Attractive nose with expressive, crunchy red apples and yellow plums, some pink grapefruit skin to add definition. Red apple fruit. Fleshy, frothy palate. But good umami-opulent tones support it – brioche etc. Decent red apple core concentration. A lemon pithy finish with lovely creaminess and chalky texture.“
🏆Best Alternative White
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
🏆Best Innovative Wine
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
Sandridge Barton Sonny 2022, Devon
Points: 96
“Manzanilla reminiscent with salinity, zest and blanched almonds. The wine is a brilliant entry to the innovative category, showing complexity, creaminess and zest. Copper hint to hue. Aldehydic. Hazelnut-laced. Lovely sweet-sour, saline, spicy, flor-influenced, creamy and fleshy. Superb balance, an accomplished wine.“
🏆Best Bacchus
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
Wraxall Vineyard Bacchus Reserve 2022, Somerset
Points: 97
“Pale lemon/green. Generous and complex nose. Whipped butter, nuts, dried mango. Zesty high acidity, flinty and grassy with mineral notes. Medium bodied, classy style. Richly textured with elevated acidity. Nice complexity driven from ripe fruit, subtle but well integrated winemaking. A good grown up wine. Like a Sancerre and really good for it.“
🏆Best Still Rosé
Sponsored by Carpenter Box
Cobham House Rose 2024, Kent
Points: 96
“Elegant and seductive nose, with damson plums, strawberry coulis and wild rose petals. The palate has structure and vibrant texture, alongside creaminess and delicate Mediterranean herbs. Impressive rosé, made for celebration and gastronomical at the same time. Elegant very pale, just a kiss of baby pink. Some decent succulence on the palate. Lifted top notes of pear drop and cherry rock candy. Pure, bright and intense with a tart sour cherry and pomegranate zest on the finish.“
🏆Best Orange Wine
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
Sandridge Barton Pinot Gris 2019, Devon
Points: 96
“Pale amber with orange hues. Funky and fun! Oxidative style, ginger biscuit and roasted apricot aromas. Heady. Almost amontillado sherry tones. And then the palate is gorgeous. Wonderful creamy silky texture. Heady apricot ginger salted hazelnut-laced oxidative flavours. Fleshy and gastronomic. A meal in a wine! Would drink many glasses of this very happily. Oxidative note is well managed and controlled. The palate has structure, lovely texture, vibrant acidity.“
🏆Best Alternative Red
Sponsored by NFU Mutual
Vale Vineyard – Gwinllan Y Dyffryn Robin Goch 2023, Denbighshire
Points: 90
“Mid ruby. The nose is recalling violets and lavender, some crunchy blackcurrants and stalky raspberries. Creamy plum fruit. Slightly oily palate profile and gritty tannin. The wine is overall harmonious, with a silky palate, caressing tannins and vibrant acidity.“
🏆Best SWGB Wine
Sponsored by WBC
Leonardslee Family Vineyards Brut Reserve 2021, West Sussex
Points: 96
“Stewed apple, evocatively smoky aromas. Fine mousse. Tangy acid. Nice biscuity, toasty and yeasty autolysis. Succulent, umami-opulent palate. Complex and harmoniously rounded. Saline finish. Lovely energy and core focus, steely but also lots of joy here. Smart stuff. Hard to criticise.”
🏆Best Producer
Sponsored by AE Chapman
Langham Wine Estate, Dorset
🏆Best Contract Winery
Sponsored by Plumpton College
Three Choirs Vineyard, Gloucestershire
🏆Best Newcomer
Sponsored by Rankin
Walgate, East Sussex
Best Regional Wines
Sponsored by Riedel
East: Flint Vineyard Silex 2023, Norfolk
Points: 92
“Nice leesy creamy yeasty aromas. Aromatic nose reminiscent of stone fruit, peach and apricots. Some fresh guava. Luxuriously buttery hints too. Fresh appley acidity, good creamy texture. Really lovely complex white. Gastronomic and elegant. Incredibly fragrant, palate has a harmoniously rounded texture and crystalline acidity, wish there was more weight to sustain the fruit ripeness.“
Midlands and North: Halfpenny Green Wine Estate Brut Reserve 2013, Staffordshire
Points: 92
“Lemon hue with hints of green. Dried grass, ripe lemon and apple rind. Chamomile hints. Creamy harmoniously rounded fresh palate profile. A hint of cheesiness on the finish, churned butter. Good, well integrated, just falls away a bit on the finish. Baked apples and roasted pears, lovely freshness on the palate with a lemony character into it. Mineral driven and saline.“
South East: Blackbook Winery Pygmalion South Bank Vineyard 2022, London
Points: 97
“A striking, deep golden wine with a bold, characterful presence. Aromatics span roasted nuts, toasted brioche, curry leaf and a hint of poached rhubarb, underpinned by a reductive, smoky edge. The palate is broad, textured and richly savoury, offering layers of honey, ginger and citrus zest. Silky yet structured, integrated seamlessly into a creamy, full-bodied frame. A dramatic and distinctive expression – evocative of mature Grand Cru Burgundy, yet unmistakably English in its daring.”
Thames & Chilterns: All Angels 10 Year Anniversary Classic Cuvée 2014, Berkshire
Points: 95
“Lovely inviting complex autolytic character – brioche, freshly baked biscuit, fresh toast. Bouquet of ripe red apples and apple blossoms, alongside with chamomile flowers, acacia honey and blanched almonds. Palate is fleshy and complex and fine. Mousse well integrated. Saline and umami. The finish is hazelnut-laced, uplifted with soft mousse. Delightful balance between primary and secondary character. You really feel the evolution here, which is what you want from an aged vintage. But it sits beautifully in context. Fabulous wine.”
Wales: Jabajak Vineyard White House Sparkling Blush 2021, Carmarthenshire
Points: 92
“The nose evokes notes of wild berries, red currants and peach yoghurt. The palate showcases elegance, with searing acidity and prettiness. Palate is creamy and fresh, slightly lactic with strawberries and cream on the finish. Deliciously creamy mousse. Well made, enjoyable.“
Wessex: Langham Wine Estate Perpetual MV, Dorset
Points: 99
“A soaring, world-class example of grower-style sparkling wine. Bright red apples and crunchy yellow pears, with a subtle toastiness. Palate is reminiscent of blanched almonds. Elegant brioche and baked apple aromas. Long finish, pretty dry – albeit with some lovely creamy autolytic texture and a saline yeasty complexity.“
West: Lyme Bay Martin’s Lane Chardonnay 2020, Devon
Points: 98
“The wine is attractive on the nose, with some buttered toast and honeyed cereals. The palate is powerful, delivering high energy and structure simultaneously. Hint of green apple cordial and struck flint reduction, combine well. Wine is full and harmonious, well balanced, fresh but not tart. An incredibly accomplished expression of cool-climate Chardonnay.”