Decanter World Wine Awards 2013: International Trophies & Retailer Awards

This week Decanter announced its Retailer Award and International Trophy winners. I just made it in time for the dinner have spent the day tasting a terrific line up of wines at the Liberty Premium Australia tasting (highlights to be reported soon).

Auspicious perhaps because it was a great night for the New World, especially Australia which won the most trophies (six). Auspicious too for my visit to trophy-bagging region Rutherglen, where I’m judging this month! South Africa performed well too – great to see Cape Point’s flagship Isliedh get the gong for White Blend over £15.

Surprises? Well I have to admit that spotting two Portuguese winemakers Luis Sottomayer (Sogrape/Casa Ferreirinha) and Filipa Tomaz da Costa (Vinhos Bacalhoa) plus two specialist Portuguese importers Danny Cameron and Nick Oakley in the audience ramped up my expectations for my panel’s Regional Trophy winners (listed here). Cameron picked up an international trophy on behalf of Ricardo Diogo Freitas of Barbeito – one of my favourite Madeira producers. Great result!

Though Portugal didn’t win any more International Trophies this year given the competition’s record-breaking 14,330 entries, I reckon Portugal can still be very proud of the fact Beyra Vermiosa Altitude 700 Mt 2012, Casa Ferreirinha Quinta Da Leda 2010, Bacalhôa Moscatel De Setúbal 2000, Tagus Creek Shiraz-Trincadeira 2012, Offley LBV 2008 and Sandeman 40 Year Old Tawny  were all short-listed for International trophies. And I have to admit, vis a vis the Red Blend over £15 Trophy,winning wine Penfolds Bin 389 2010 simply blew me away when I tasted it earlier this year – check out my review here.

Looking further afield, less than expected results included a winning Croatian sweetie (Sweet over £15 trophy), Hungarian Cabernet blend (Red Bordeaux Varietal over £15 trophy) and Canadian Pinot Noir (under £15 trophy), while a German Pinot Noir scooped the +£15 Pinot Noir trophy.

As for the retailer awards great to see The Wine Society win National Retailer of the Year for the third year running. London’s winner was Hedonism – home to a simply gob-smacking selection of the world’s finest. The runner up was another new venture – New Street Wine Shop – which is managed by my Portugal panel team mate Claudio Martins.

The full results with Regional Trophy producer profiles and overall analysis of the results on a country-by-country basis are published in October’s edition of Decanter, which is out now. Better still you can taste some of the result next month when Decanter rolls out its global tasting programme of award winning wines in 19 countries – click here for details.

You can also see the full results here online (with tasting notes/stockist info). Here’s the scoop on the International Trophy Winners for my areas of focus:

Australia

Eden Springs High Eden Riesling (Eden Valley) – Riesling over £15 trophy

Josef Chromy Chardonnay 2011 (Tasmania) – Chardonnay over £15 trophy

McGuigan Bin 9000 Semillon 2007 (Hunter Valley) – White single varietal under £15 trophy

Credaro Family Estate Beach Head Shiraz 2011 (Margaret River) – Red Rhone Varietal over £15 trophy

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2010 (South Australia) – Red Blend over £15 trophy

Campbells Rutherglen Topaque NV (Rutherglen) – Sweet Fortified under £15 trophy

South Africa

Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2012 (Cape Point) – White Blend over £15 trophy

Paul Cluver Gewurtztraminer 2012 (Elgin) – Dry Aromatic under £15 trophy

Boschendal Reserve Collection Shiraz 2011 (Stellenbosch) – Red Rhone Varietal under £15

Portugal

Barbeito 20 Anos Lote 12089 Malvasia Madeira (Madeira) – Sweet Fortified over £15 trophy