English wines achieved their best-ever performance at the International Wine Challenge, winning 25 gold medals—up from 10 in 2025. The country also claimed the highest percentage of gold medals per entry, with 16% of its submissions taking top honours.
Kent emerged as England’s top wine region, securing 12 gold medals, largely for sparkling wine and chardonnay. Experts attributed the success to older vines, longer bottle ageing, and more precise winemaking. Master of wine Sam Caporn noted that producers like Nyetimber (first vintage 1992) and Wiston (trophy for Cuvee 2009 Magnum) are benefiting from increased vine age and reserve wine complexity.
Oz Clarke, co-chair of the IWC, described the improvement as remarkable: “Growers now understand their vineyards far better... English wines are being judged alongside the world’s best and are winning on quality alone.” He highlighted sparkling wine as a particular strength.
Supermarket own-label wines also performed strongly, with gold medals for Aldi, Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s. Overall, England ranked ninth among countries, behind leader France, but its gold medal percentage was the highest. The judges called the result proof of England’s “rise as a world-class wine producing country”.
Newer regions such as the Crouch Valley in Essex are gaining recognition, and still wines are increasingly competing with sparkling. As climate change brings more sunny days to southern England, the industry’s prospects continue to brighten.
