The red wines that made it to the Top 50 at DWWA 2026

The 24 red Best in Show winners were a varied, globe-spanning collection, with established names and emerging talent.

From the Andes and the Alps to an island in the Adriatic, and with classic estates and DOCGs on the rise, the list included wines made from well known grape varieties and newcomers to note. All are ripe for discovery. Here is a taste.

Frankland River: Western Australia, but not as you know it

Located in Western Australia’s Great Southern region, Frankland River can’t be called ‘new’. Its potential for winemaking greatness was spotted a full decade before that of its better-known neighbour Margaret River, and the first contemporary vineyard here was planted in 1967.

The red-wine focus is on Shiraz, and Ferngrove The Orchid Collection, Dragon Shiraz 2023 shows what the variety is capable of here: it’s the first Western Australian wine from outside Margaret River to win a Best in Show.

Like Margaret River, Frankland is a cool-climate region. ‘We have warm days and very cool nights’, explains Ferngrove winemaker Craig Grafton. ‘This allows our grapes to ripen slowly and develop complex full flavours while retaining a fresh natural acidity.’

Something that sets Frankland River apart is its focus on single-vineyard wines – like this one, sourced what Grafton describes as ‘our best Shiraz block, Block 11’ – part of the original planting when the vineyard was established in 1998.

‘Frankland River is quietly establishing itself among the world’s most compelling cool-climate landscapes’, Grafton believes. Here’s why: ‘While climate, elevation and the influence of the Southern and Indian Oceans shape our vineyards, it is the ancient, low-fertility soils that define our wines. These soils naturally limit yields and produce smaller berries with concentrated flavour. The result is wines of purity, balance and structure that express the character of Frankland River.’

Move over, Margaret. Frankland has arrived.

An Adriatic star on the rise

One of the most exciting wines to be awarded a Best in Show this year was from Croatia. Marijan Plaža Plavac 2021 is made from vineyards perched high on a steep slope on the rocky island of Hvar in the Adriatic, off Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast. The wine is a personal passion, a family pursuit and a massive success story, all rolled into one.

Owner and winemaker Tonči Marijan is from Hvar. After a long career in the wine and spirits business, he returned home in his forties with a plan. ‘I came back to Pitve, a small village of about 70 people where I was born 58 years ago. My goal was to create a boutique winery that would produce the absolute best that this island can offer, especially from Plavac Mali,’ he says. Four years ago, his younger daughter Franka joined the business, which he describes as ‘one of the happiest moments of my career’.

The vineyards’ slopes can reach inclines of 60 degrees (Marijan describes them as the island’s ‘grand cru’ positions) and the grape variety has a story of its own. ‘Plavac Mali is closely related to Zinfandel, brought to the USA from Dalmatia during the great crisis when phylloxera devastated European and Dalmatian vineyards,’ he says. ‘This crisis forced many people to seek their fortune in the New World – including my own great-grandfather, who was driven by hunger to send three of his daughters to Argentina.’

Marijan believes Plavac Mali has ‘enormous potential for producing world-class wines’. Judges noted the enormous strides that Croatian wine culture has made. It’s a sentiment that Marijan echoes.

Switzerland: Europe’s ‘secret’ fine-wine nation

Valais. If you’re Swiss, you’ll know it. But if the name of Switzerland’s largest wine region doesn’t ring a bell, you’re not alone. Only about 2 per cent of the country’s wine is exported, making Swiss wine one of the world’s best-kept secrets.

This year’s single Swiss Best in Show, Domaines Rouvinet, Coeur de Domaines 2023, is from Valais. Véronique Besson-Rouvinet is CEO responsible for oenology, quality and sustainability for this family enterprise established in 1945.

Enumerating the region’s attributes, she says: ‘Valais is the sunniest, driest region in Switzerland. Sheltered by the Alps, we benefit from the Föhn effect, a warm wind that blows from the end of summer onwards.’ Then there’s the terrain. ‘It is very steep and the slopes face due south. The soils are poor and stony, and [proximity to] the Rhône regulates the temperature.’

Add to that grape varieties little known outside the region. The winning wine is a blend of 40 per cent each Syrah and Cornalin, the remainder Humagne Rouge – the latter two indigenous Swiss grapes, from vines that are 20-35 years old. ‘By studying the terroir, we have identified the variety and cultivation methods best suited to each site,’ Besson-Rouvinet explains. ‘The grapes are set aside for the single-varietal cuvée of each planted variety, but a small proportion is selected for the Coeur de Domaines. These are the finest grapes from the heart of our estates.’

If quality – as well as individuality and rarity value – rate highly on your list, put Swiss wines right at the top.

Barbera takes a bow

In Italy’s Piedmont, Barolo and Barbaresco (both made from the Nebbiolo grape) have long captured all the limelight. Now another ‘B’-grape – Barbera – is having its moment: for the first time this year, a Barbera has been awarded a Best in Show.

Coppo, Pomorosso, Nizza, Piedmont 2022 comes from the relatively young Nizza ‘super-Barbera’ DOCG, a restricted area of Monferrato around the town of Nizza in Asti. Previously a subzone of Barbera d’Asti, it was established with the 2014 vintage and denotes a 100% varietal.

Pomorosso, named after an apple tree that grows near the vineyards, was first made in 1984 and is Coppo’s flagship Barbera. CEO Rossano Savoia says: ‘Our winery was founded in 1892, and we’ve always produced Barbera wines. This variety is part of our DNA. But the ideas and intuitions that led to premium Barbera wines like Pomorosso date back to the 1980s.’ The region-wide project led by producers here to elevate the quality and reputation of the Barbera grape has been decades in the making, and is now bearing fruit.

Savoia believes that the creation of the Nizza DOCG has given producers ‘the opportunity to develop a vision – a project to create an appellation capable of positioning itself at the pinnacle of the Barbera variety. The most important part of this project is having identified and defined the area with the greatest quality potential.’ Of its future Savoia believes, ‘It is true that in the Langhe the future will see Nebbiolo as the protagonist; in Monferrato it will undoubtedly be Barbera’.

Nizza Barbera. If it’s not a designation you already know, make note.

Best in Show: The red wines of 2026

Bergerie Du Capucin, Dame Jeanne, Pic Saint Loup, Languedoc-Roussillon, France 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This is the third time Pic St Loup has featured in our Best in Show selection out of a total of six Languedoc appearances, underscoring the potential of the pure limestones and ever-changing orientations of this eastern Languedoc zone. ‘The Pic’ is also a little cooler and a little moister than other Languedoc appellations, meaning that it is one of the spots in this vast region where Syrah still feels comfortable and at ease. All of this was evident to our judges as they tasted this “supremely classy wine” with its 70% Syrah component, entirely aged (for an unhurried two years) in concrete. Everyone fell in love with its herbal, floral nose, and applauded the fact that there was no oak to get in the way; the “resolutely pure and unadulterated fruit” on the palate brought great pleasure too – “totally open and pure-hearted” – and the “silky but persistent tannins” were much admired. It’s not a wine you need to wait for, and anyone who might doubt the refreshment potential of a great Languedoc red should take a look at this Pic performance. Alcohol 14%

Capezzana, Trefiano, Carmignano Rosso Riserva, Tuscany, Italy 2021
Best in Show, 97 points
Our second Tuscan Best in Show wine this year is, like the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a debutant in dry red-wine form within the Top 50 selection. It’s a wine from the small but deeply historical DOCG of Carmignano, a zone first acclaimed by Cosimo III de’ Medici in the early C18, and revived in 1975 as the first DOC to sanction use of Cabernet Sauvignon in its blend (though Cabernet is limited to just 10 per cent in this wine, with a further 10 per cent of the softening Canaiolo; Sangiovese accounts for the wine’s core). This Riserva from 2021 is dark black-red in colour, with splendidly ripe aromas of dimpled black plums, sage leaf and woodland undergrowth. It’s full and expansive in the mouth with a rich, succulent tannic frame, sweeping yet fruit-saturated acidity and a long and reverberatively savoury finish: one of the most generous of this year’s Top 50 reds, yet without sacrificing the nerve and nuance that seems to be a birthright of fine Tuscan red wines. Alc 14.5%

Château de Marsannay, En Orveaux, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru, Burgundy, France 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This is the second Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru we’ve found for our Best in Show selection. The previous wine (a Malconsorts `19, featured in DWWA 2021) came from the Nuits-St Georges end of this lustrous village, whereas this wine — En Orveaux — hails from the combe of the same name, up above the Château du Clos du Vougeot at the village’s northern end. Despite lying at the village boundary edge, it’s endowed with all of the plush fruit brushed out with velvety tannins you hope for from this part of the Côte de Nuits. Those fruits are pure, sweet-toned and inviting: black cherry and raspberry, freshened by a little redcurrant. The wine’s tannins are sweetly gratifying and work well with curranty acidity to build structure, profile and allure. It’s accessible and unforbidding now, but our judges felt it would reward extended cellaring too. Alc 13.7%

Château L’Enclos, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
There’s just one Bordeaux in our Best in Show selection this year, but it’s a cracker. It’s actually the fourth Pomerol to feature at this level, and comes from the 2023 vintage – when those prepared to work hard keeping mildew at bay over the summer made beautiful wines in soft and comely style for mid-term drinking. Our judges felt this was a “high class” wine whose style combined the innate generosity of this appellation (the world benchmark for Merlot) with considerable finesse and restraint, perhaps due to its relatively elevated percentage of Cabernet Franc — and there’s even a dash of Malbec in here, too. It’s an opaque black-red in colour at this stage with cherry and blueberry fruits, shimmering with a classical cedary sheen. The tannins are prominent, tender and savoury, and there is ample fruit-bonded acidity to give the wine lift and grace; the finish is dry and appetising rather than sweet and cloying. Needless to say, it’ll age beautifully over the medium term. Alc 13.5%

Clos du Val, Yettalil, Stags Leap District, California, United States 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This is the fourth time a Stag’s Leap District wine has been elevated to Best in Show, and the second time that we’ve seen a Bordeaux blend rather than a wine that would qualify as a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc from this remarkable nested AVA within Napa. Our judges loved it: ‘powerful and persuasive’ said one; others found it ‘long, poised and eloquent’ and a wine of ‘notable finesse’. It’s a saturated and opaque black-red in colour and aromatically articulate as well as intricate: behind the cascade of blackcurrant and blackberry you might find lavender, herbs, black pepper and eucalyptus, while the palate is packed out, beyond its powerful fruits, with graphite, earth, soft leather and liquorice root. The wine is a masterclass in tannin handling: fine suede on the tongue. Its acidity is a quiet undertow, giving the palate ample flow and swirl. This concentrated and authoritative Napa blend perfectly illustrates the virtues of a milder-than-usual vintage for the valley; it will age effortlessly for a decade or two. Alc 14.6%

Condado De Haza, Reserva, Ribera del Duero, Spain 2021
Best in Show, 97 points
Ribera del Duero makes it into our Best in Show selection for the third time in a row this year, and the second time as a red wine. This is, in colour terms, the deepest of all our Top 50 reds: midnight black and opaque almost to the rim. Aromatically, it’s an arrow bound for the bullseye, without any exaggeration of oak or flamboyant overripeness of fruit: pure, sumptuous, inviting, sweetly refined and packed with brooding fruits. On the palate, too, it is soft and sensual, tender and teasing, ample yet harmonious – and almost a meal in itself in terms of its breadth and dimensions. There’s plenty of sustaining high-altitude acidity to keep the wine brisk, while the tannins have an energy and an edge to them too – which is just what those ample black fruits need. It lingers on the tongue, and the finish hints at savoury developments to come. If, that is, you can keep your hands off it for now… Alc 14.5%

Coppo, Pomorosso, Nizza, Piedmont, Italy 2022
Best in Show, 97 points
We’ve never welcomed a Barbera to our Best in Show selection before – and pow! Here it is. Fittingly it’s a Nizza wine, this DOCG having come into being in 2014 to showcase a Barbera-only subzone formerly included in DOCG Barbera d’Asti Superiore and centred around the town of Nizza Monferrato. It’s not a shy wine, and it left our judges excited: powerful black fruits with orange and blueberry scents layered into spicy, creamy oak. On the palate it’s rich, deep and heady, with more orange and black fruit partnered with voluptuous tannins from both skins and oak. It has all the athleticism of the variety — but if you’re one of those who have found Barbera’s acidity to be almost too aggressive and attacking in the past, this wine may reassure; it’s balanced and vivacious here, thanks to the overall richness and wealth of the whole. Alc 15.5%

Dalrymple Vineyards, Single Site Pinot Noir​, Pipers River, Tasmania, Australia 2024
Best in Show, 97 points
Tasmania’s fifth appearance in our Best in Show selection is also its third Pinot Noir in as many years; two additional whites (a Riesling and a Chardonnay) were featured back in the 2017 and 2019 DWWA editions respectively. This wine is relatively deep in colour, with ample soft red fruit aromatic sweetness (cherries and strawberries); there are rose-petal floral notes, too, as well as cedar and graphite notes from fine-coopered oak. The 2024 vintage was mild and settled, with a generous ripening window, and the harmony and limpidity of flavour that comes from a season of that sort are much in evidence here. The Tasmanian difference, perhaps, is evident in a tightening towards the end of the palate as some sour cherry acidity creeps in to bring the flavour sweep towards a focused finish. A Pinot of style and verve. Alc 13.5%

Deep Woods, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
No Australian region has been more successful than Margaret River in our Best in Show selection since its inception in 2015: this is the eleventh wine from this coastal region of Western Australia to fight its way into the Top 50, and the fifth Cabernet. All the Margaret River hallmarks of poise, complexity, refinement and balance are evident in what one judge called this “fluid and seamless wine”; drinkers can look forward to “loads of development to come” here. It’s dark black-red in colour, with blackcurrant and blackberry fruits lent fragrance by dried herb complexities. The palate is concentrated, with significant fruit intensity in ‘essence-of-Cabernet’ style. You’ll find the fruit teasing, poised and mouthwatering, yet the wine is gratifyingly reserved and restrained in terms of its expressive articulation. The light drape of tannins adds gastronomic force and aids drinkability and digestibility, while the acids are attractively subdued rather than edgy and sharp. All the classicism of a great Cabernet site is evident in this aesthetically well-judged wine. Alc 14%

Delas Frères, Seigneur De Maugiron, Côte Rotie, Rhône, France 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
Eleven Best in Show appearances for the Rhône Valley but never a Côte Rôtie… until this year. It’s a wine from the 2023 vintage – a very good one in Côte Rôtie, since the deluge of rain that affected other parts of the Northern Rhône in mid-September spared this northernmost appellation almost entirely, and the slow start to the summer accelerated gratifyingly during an August when the terraces genuinely roasted. We don’t, as we taste, know the precise vineyard sources for this wine, but in style it seems more Brune than Blonde: dark in colour, with splendidly smoky, tapenade-like aromas (some found undergrowth and stone) rather than pronounced floral lift, while the palate is poised, lively and vivacious but underscored by ample backbone and tension, too. Look out for the salty finish behind the fruits and the attractively forthright tannins. It’s both classic and generous and would make a good prospect for ageing – though there’s nothing overly forbidding for those who would like to start sooner. Alc 13%

Delas Frères, Les Bessards, Hermitage, Rhône, France 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This grand wine, like its Côte Rôtie peer, marks a welcome debut for Hermitage in our Best in Show collection, and it, too, comes from the attractive though accessible 2023 vintage. No one was in any doubt, from the moment it was tasted, that it was anything other than outstanding; it expresses the essence of what drinkers love about Northern Rhône Syrah from this magnificent and rangy hillside site. It’s an opaque black-red at present and profoundly aromatic, with a charge of lifted smoky-fresh Syrah currants as well as beguiling peony floral freshness, a black-olive tang and some exotic incense spice from fine quality oak (perfectly judged and unobtrusive). On the palate, the wine is quick on its feet and nimbly energetic; the fruits are almost explosive, dripping with curranty freshness as well as alive and alluring with notes of ham stock, smoked bacon and the treasures of the kitchen hearth. It’s complete and almost mesmerising, with poised but relatively restrained tannic support; acidity and fruit, indeed, are the main structural drivers here, but the ripeness and aromatic wealth buried in both ensure that there is both balance and resonance in the glass. Grand wine indeed. Alc 14%

Domaine Evenstad, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, Burgundy, France 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
It’s been a great year for Bourgogne in this year’s DWWA, with five wines in the Best in Show selection; this, the first ever Clos de Vougeot in the Top 50, crowned the region’s achievement. The fact that the 50.6 ha of this vineyard is shared by over 80 proprietors swings a spotlight onto the exact position of the holdings of each, from powerful and age-worthy wines coming from vines high up around the historic Château to gentler wines made from low-lying vineyards next to the D974. Our judges, of course, knew nothing about the exact locational origin of the contributory vines as they tasted – but all were impressed by the wine’s powerful and complex aromatics (the red and black fruits one might expect, but also brine, heather and rosemary). Its “tension and mineral richness” as well as its length, elegance and sappy finish, too, lived up to the expectations provoked by this historic name. It’s a Grand Cru of significant energy, yet its soft, giving tannins and juicy acidity will make it approachable very soon. Alc 14%

Domaine Serene, Aspect, Dundee Hills, Oregon, United States 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
Every one of our past three Oregon Best in Show entrants (in the 2016, 2020 and 2023 editions of DWWA) has been a Pinot Noir from the Dundee Hills. So too is the fourth, from our competition this year. Two of our judges spotted the “textbook Dundee Hills aromatics of cherry cola and sassafras” (in the words of one; the second judge also found diagnostic cherry cola) – though these aromas might also be described as alluring dark fruits which meld with intricate, fragrant oak in a nose of inviting fine-wine finesse. The palate is supple, pleated and finely gathered, and the strawberry and other berry fruits have a cured-tobacco softness and sandalwood allure. There’s impressive craftsmanship on show here – but outstanding fruit qualities, too; this is a concentrated wine that will continue to evolve and open with time. Alc 14.2%

Domaines Rouvinez, Coeur De Domaines, Valais, Switzerland 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This is the fifth time that a Swiss wine has made our Best in Show selection – but (perhaps tellingly: the climate is on the move here too) the first time that wine has been red. All five wines have come from Valais. This is a blend of two typically obscure but significant Swiss specialities, the ancient Alpine varieties Cornalin and Humagne Rouge, blended with a little mountain-loving Syrah. There’s nothing in its dark, opaque black-purple colour that would suggest a cool climate or the struggle for ripeness, and the compelling aromas, too, are amply ripe though fresh, with notes of black fruit and incense spice (some judges found violets, cranberry and bramble). The palate is dense, vital and shimmering; it’s oaked, but the oak serves the fruits and not vice versa. This marks yet another missive from Europe’s ‘secret’ fine-wine nation, and if you’re one of the many non-Swiss yet to discover exactly what this nation can bring to the wine world, do try to track down a bottle. (Even if you have to save up first.) Alc 13.2%

Ferngrove, The Orchid Collection Dragon Shiraz, Frankland River, Western Australia, Australia 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
There’s a lot more to Western Australia than just Margaret River, as all those who love Australian wines will know – but, until this year, no other region in this vast state has managed to win its way through to Best in Show. Happily, this outstanding Shiraz from Frankland River, one of the star zones in the vast expanse of Great Southern, has come bustling through this year to stake its claim. Our judges applauded the refinement, delicacy, purity and limpidity of this poised Shiraz midweight: floral perfumes suffusing red-fruit charm dominate the aromas, while the palate is “classy, effortless and long”, and sees the fruits modulating towards something just a little bit more savoury, though the full development of these characters will need to wait a year or two longer. It has texture, and acidity is well-judged, balanced and unobtrusive. Poise and refreshment await you. Alc 14.5%

G.D. Vajra, Luigi Baudana Baudana, Barolo, Piedmont, Italy 2022
Best in Show, 97 points
This admirable wine (our fourteenth Best in Show Barolo or Barolo Riserva) offers a serene and commanding reading of the warm 2022 vintage, one without any sense of stress or excessive heat. It’s deep though translucent in colour, with soft, sweet aromas of burnished, autumn-warm red fruits infused with floral charm and lent extra complexity by forest and tea-leaf notes. You just know it’s going to be graceful and deft on the palate, and sure enough it is – but it’s also gathered, serious, taut and aromatically complex right until the final notes have faded. Its tannins are splendid: ample, soft but detaining, lending the wine gastronomic seriousness and finesse. Fine vineyard origins are surely in evidence here, as well as impeccable cellar work – and there’s no hurry to drink, though the wine is approachable already. Alc 15%

Georges Duboeuf, Château Des Capitans, Juliénas, Beaujolais, France 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This darkly alluring Beaujolais is the fifth from among the region’s ten crus that we’ve welcomed to our Best in Show selection – and the first Juliénas; we’ve formerly applauded two Morgons, a Moulin-à-Vent and a Fleurie. It’s almost an opaque purple-red in colour, brimming with the perfumed ripeness which the magnificent 2023 vintage promised in this vintage. Among the notes our judges found on the nose were blackberry, blueberry and lavender, while the palate is fruit-saturated too (damsons and cherries join the party), with soft tannins, harmoniously juicy acidity and some ripely bitter notes on the finish to bring cleansing refreshment. Juliénas is considered one of the more muscular and powerful of the crus, and this wine lives up to that reputation — though without ever toppling over into crassness or excess. Alc 14.5%

Icario, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy 2021
Best in Show, 97 points
Tuscany impressed in this year’s DWWA with two wines winning an outing in our Best In Show selection – and the pair includes this impressive wine, our first ever Top 50 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. It’s from the outstanding 2021 vintage, and unquestionably merits comparison with the best wines of Montalcino and of the Chianti Classico zone. A dark, dense black-red, the wine’s aromas are close-knit and brooding, with sour-cherry, wild herb and gentian-root notes. The palate is a surge of energy: iodine, clove, cranberry and more root spice, with svelte, fine-milled tannins and sustained tenor acidity. Just a little bitter-chocolate sweetness creeps in tentatively at the end. Brilliant freshness and style from Southern Tuscany, and this is one of the Top 50 wines this year, which really would be better with a year or two longer in the cellar, such is its density. Alc 14%

Les Coins Perdus Du Midi, Bong Ving, Putaing Cong Grenache-Carignan-Syrah, Maury Sec, Languedoc-Roussillon, France 2025
Best in Show, 97 points
The Maury Sec appellation came into being in 2011, covering the same magnificent Agly Valley sites that have long been used for the dark, sweet and chocolate-friendly fortified wines of the Maury appellation alone. The potential here to make dense and almost shockingly rich dry red wines lent profundity by their mineral charge is enormous, and this is the first wine of this sort that we’ve seen emerge into the bright sunlight of our Best in Show selection. Our judging panel was hugely impressed: ‘Authentic, traditional terroir-styled wine with great complexity and sense of place’ summarised one. Like our Croatian Plavac Mali, at 15.5% it’s not a wine for the faint-hearted and would be best served in the depths of winter, when you need reminding of summer’s solar force. It’s dark purple-red in colour, sending a billow of beautiful blackberry fruit up from the glass. The weight in the mouth is splendid, and the wine perfectly illustrates the way in which great tannins can be both flavoury as well as textured. Those blackberry fruits are everywhere, given lift by sappy acidity and without any oak noise to spoil the party; such oak as the wine has had is simply there to tame youthful exuberance, and the longer you spend with the fruit the more you realise that it is packed with herbal and stone complexities, too. A stunning debut for Maury Sec at the highest levels of our competition. Alc 15.5%

Marijan, Plaža Plavac, Hvar, Coastal, Croatia 2021
Best in Show, 97 points
This is only the second Croatian wine ever to make it into our Best in Show selection – and the first, a red-stemmed Refosco, came back in our 2016 competition. Since then, Croatian wine culture has made enormous strides, strides perhaps unmatched by any other European wine nation, so it was gratifying when our judges found this exciting Plavac Mali from the Dalmatian island of Hvar to champion this year. Wines such as this tend to come from heroic viticulture in extreme sites, often on steep slopes of karst limestone facing the glittering Adriatic – so if you’re after fresh, low-alcohol reds, look elsewhere. If you love the lavish, the warm and the exuberant in red wine, though, you’ll find this powerfully opulent wine a revelation: dense blackberry and black cherry fruit with overtones of fig, sage and thyme, lent balance by grandly soft tannins, peppery depths and sustaining though subdued acidity. Perfect to keep us all going through the winter. Alc 16%

Nicosia, Hýbla Biologico, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Sicily, Italy 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
As things stand (though wine evolution never ends) this is a wine from Sicily’s only existing DOCG zone: Cerasuolo di Vittoria, a zone sited in the southeast of the island, circling inland from the town of Vittoria. It’s a blend of Nero d’Avola with the indigenous Frappato, and is crafted in a light, thirst-slaking style, with a backbone of pretty cherry fruit. This wine sees eight months in larger oak, just to calm the Nero d’Avola a little but without losing the joy of the Frappato. It’s a translucent red in colour, and our judges loved its aromatic blend of strawberry and cherry fruits with herbs, pepper and something a little more savoury and salami-like. On the palate it is bright, fresh and dancing, with brisk acidity but not devoid of tannin either: the finishing grip partners well with the wine’s acidity, and brings a little closing seriousness. Unique and unforgettable. Alc 13.5%

Rutini, Single Vineyard Malbec, Gualtallary, Tupungato, Mendoza, Argentina 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
Our 19th Argentinian Best in Show wine is also the sixth to emerge from Gualltallary, making this high-altitude zone with its limestone soils close to Tupungato (in the vast Uco Valley) certainly the most successful geographical Top 50 performer at the highest levels of our competition. Our judges loved the way this wine “expressed the wild nature of Guallta” and was so fresh yet so complete, with its vibrant, intense blackcurrant and blackberry fruits offset by “an intense chalky and austere palate” which didn’t lean too heavily on its oak treatment. It’s dark purple in colour and, after air, becomes alluringly fresh with both flowers and crushed cocoa husks aromatically apparent. On the palate, the wine is concentrated without being stewy or effortful, packed with high-drama fresh fruits which seethe and cascade across the palate in best mountain style. There are relatively prolific, fine-grained tannins to provide ballast, and the acidity is soft and discreet. Alc 14%

San Pedro, 1865 Selected Vineyards Las Lagunas Carmenère, Colchagua, Chile 2023
Best in Show, 97 points
This is our fifteenth Best in Show from Chile, and the fourth Carmenère – giving this ancient variety far more appearances in varietal guise than any Chilean rival (surprisingly, we’re still waiting for the first pure Chilean Cabernet to make the Top 50). It comes from red-wine hotspot Colchagua, and is dark and lustrous in the glass. Our judges considered it a great example of contemporary Chilean Carmenère (this variety, remember, is also widely planted in China, so international comparisons are possible), with floral rose notes to match its fruit and, as one judge put it, “wonderful tension in the palate”. The tannins are discreet, ripe and soft and the wine has poised acidity to carry and freshen the fruit; there are cocoa notes on the long and surprisingly lively finish. Alc 14%

Villa Maria, Ngakirikiri, Gimblett Gravels, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand 2021
Best in Show, 97 points
Our fifth Best in Show wine from Hawkes Bay is also our second Gimblett Gravels Bordeaux-style blend to come through at this level, though in this case Cabernet dominates the blend to such an extent that it could legally be sold as a varietal wine. It’s also a fine testament to the quality of the magnificent 2021 vintage in this warm, North Island region. Expect a saturated black-red colour with diagnostic New Zealand pungency of aroma: “rose-buds and mocha” for one taster, and “dark berries, meat, tobacco and boot polish on leather” for another. There’s also a lively plant-sap note which brings added freshness. The palate is dark, dense and meaty yet oozing more sap, too. The tannins are ultra-fine yet taut (leather once again is a good analogy) and the acidity is buoyant; it’s a wine that will hold well, and keep all of its freshness as it does so. Alc 14.5%