Moet Hennessy won Bronze medal for Chandon Rosé Brut whereas Commended medals were won by Chandon Delice, Chandon Brut, Fratelli Gran Cuvee Selection and Sula Tropicale Brut that was the first Indian wine ever to score a Gold in IWC 2022, and were the bubblies that won 5 medals out of these 11 medals. Sula Brut, the old workhorse that Sula started making sparkling wines with Thomson grapes over 20 years ago but now claims to use Chenin Blanc, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc,  won a Bronze, the 6th medal, making one believe that India was shaping up to be a good sparkling wine producer, with 55% of the Awards being in this category.

Dindori Reserve Chardonnay 2023 from Sula also won a Bronze as did The Source Grenache 2023; another one was bagged by Big Banyan Cabernet Sauvignon 2022.

The Source Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 2023 and The Source Pinot Noir 2023 also bagged a Commended each. Thus Sula leads the pack with 3 Bronze and 3 Commended, followed by Chandon with 1 Bronze and 2 Commended medals, with Fratelli (1 Commended) and Big Banyan (1 Bronze) following.

IWC awards medals in 4 categories: Gold. Silver, Bronze and Commended, besides various trophies and top Awards in various categories.

India has been scoring better every year, crossing the IWC 2023 (8) and 2022 (6) when Sula Tropicale had won the first and only Gold Medal for India so far at IWC. There was no medal in 2021 perhaps due to non-participation because of Covid 19. In 2020 there were 5 medals with Fratelli in the lead (3), followed by Chandon (2).

Like in any international competition, it is a practice of IWS making the numbers of samples entered in the competition by a company public. Thus Sula may not send any samples, and Grover Vineyards may win 10 medals. Conversely, If Sula has won 6 medals this year and Grover none, it does not mean none of the Grover wine samples made it to the medals list. Perhaps it did not partake in the competition. Similarly, a boutique winery may not choose to or may not be able to afford to pay for the charges (usually over 100 Euros/Pounds each) and the government does not subsidize as they do in many countries.

The Competition is co-chaired by 6 eminent wine experts having years of tasting and judging experience. Tim Atkin MW, Sam Caporn MW, Oz Clarke, Dr. Jamie Goode, Peter McCombie MW, and Helen McGinn meticulously taste each and every wine that has been entered into the competition. For the complete List of Judges, click https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/judges.html

While France, Australia and Spain remained top of the medal table, followed by Portugal and Italy, niche wine producing countries England, Georgia, Japan, Canada, Romania, Ukraine and India all saw an increase in the number of medals awarded.

The full list of medal and trophy winners in the 2024 International Wine Challenge can be viewed at https://www.internationalwinechallenge.com

France continued its winning streak, winning the highest number of medals in each category with 72 Gold, 394 Silver and 455 Bronze; an increase of 84 more medals than last year. Australia continued its streak as the top new world country in terms of medals with 54 Gold, 250 Silver and 154 Bronze ranking it in 2nd place behind France.

Spain won 34 Gold medals, 207 Silver and 215 Bronze. Portugal too increased its medal count, winning 33 Gold, 175 Silver and 195 Bronze, ranking in 4th place on the medal table. Portugal won 11 trophies for its fortified wine as well, Italy won 337 medals in 5th place.

Winners were informed individually on 16 May, 2024.

Subhash Arora