Classic UK glowing wines emerged as a serious success story at Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2025.
DWWA is the world’s largest wine competitors and its rigorous judging course of, involving main specialists of their discipline, means shoppers should buy all medal-winning wines with confidence.
And this 12 months’s outcomes present there’s by no means been a greater time to delve into the UK’s high-quality fizz.
It’s a sector that continues to blossom. UK glowing gross sales rose 187% between 2018 and 2023, to six.2m bottles, mentioned commerce physique WineGB final 12 months. Excessive-profile followers embrace Royal relations, too.
Magnum success for English glowing
This 12 months marked the primary time DWWA’s magnum class was opened as much as glowing wines past Champagne, and one UK producer took full benefit.
Sugrue South Downs, The Hassle With Desires 2009 in magnum received one in every of 50 Finest in Present medals. These extremely coveted accolades characterize simply 0.3% of all wines blind-tasted by judges.
Solely 600 magnums have been manufactured from The Hassle With Desires 2009, which is a mix of 60% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier from Jenkyn Place winery in Hampshire. The magnums spent 12 years ageing on lees and one other two years underneath cork following disgorgement.
DWWA 2025 judges mentioned the wine is ’nonetheless a teen, filled with vitality and jubilation’ – demonstrating the endurance of high UK glowing wines within the cellar.
They added, ‘Fifteen years in glass has given the always-masterful English acidity the brooding time it wants, and the result’s contemporary, extensive and bracing on the nostril, and searchlight-deep on the palate.’
This was the inaugural classic of The Hassle With Desires and a BIS medal at DWWA 2025 is additional recognition for gifted winemaker Dermot Sugrue, profiled by Decanter journal editor Amy Wislocki in 2024, and the broader staff.
Sugrue’s spouse, Ana, a winemaker and former lecturer in oenology at Plumpton School, joined in 2021, and subsequent funding from hotelier Robin Hutson OBE enabled the couple to construct their very own vineyard, which additionally just lately started by-appointment tastings.
The vineyard has elevated its deal with magnums, significantly in ageworthy vintages. Whereas magnums of The Hassle With Desires 2009 have bought out, it made 1,000 magnums of the 2020 classic (60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir from winery websites in East and West Sussex), with a launch seemingly from September 2025.
‘Magnums are the winemaker’s dream ageing vessel,’ mentioned Sugrue. ‘They permit for slower maturation, leading to further layers of complexity and much more grace than a normal bottle.’
Classic English glowing on high kind
Eight extra classic English glowing wines produced from traditional ‘Champagne’ grape varieties received high medals at DWWA 2025, with two securing prestigious Platinum accolades and 6 scooping Gold.
One Platinum medal went to a pink fizz within the form of Digby Positive English, Rosé Brut 2018, a extremely regarded classic.
‘Bounteous and rounded with a crimson fruit mousse and quenching thrill of piercing acidity,’ judges mentioned of the wine, a mix of 58% Pinot Noir, 22% Pinot Meunier and 20% Chardonnay.
Pinot was once more the main target for Platinum-winning Bluestone, Blanc de Noirs Brut 2019 from Wiltshire. Combining 51% Pinot Noir and 49% Pinot Meunier, judges highlighted apricot, peach, cherry pores and skin and floral aromas on the nostril.
They added, ‘Targeted and vibrant with a tapering acidity and a tingling black tea component to shut. Lengthy and rewarding.’
Gold medallist Hoffman & Rathbone showcased the standard of 100% Pinot Meunier glowing wines with its ‘Blanc de Noir Brut’ 2015, launched on 1 June after 9 years of ageing on lees.
In the meantime, a magnum of Squerryes, North Downs Brut 2015 additionally received Gold. Aged on lees for 101 months and disgorged in August 2024, judges praised its mixture of chalky mineral tones, ‘svelte acidity’ and ‘underlay of nutty brioche’.
Squerryes Property, in the identical household for greater than 300 years, was as soon as approached by a serious Champagne home however determined to plant its personal vines in 2006.
Massive wins for ‘Blanc de Blancs’
4 of the six Gold medals for English glowing at DWWA 2025 went to 100% Chardonnay wines, echoing sturdy latest outcomes for this fashion in a Decanter journal panel tasting of UK classic glowing wines.
Pioneering winemaker Peter Corridor planted vines to ascertain Breaky Backside close to Lewes in East Sussex again in 1974, however the Gold medal winner at DWWA 2025 represents his first 100% Chardonnay wine: ‘Cuvée Geoffrey Aldred’ Brut 2018.
‘Glowing with citrus, stone fruit and chalky minerals that glide flawlessly over the silky mousse and sleek acidity,’ mentioned judges.
Different Gold winners included Oxney Natural Property, Blanc de Blancs Further Brut 2019, additionally from East Sussex, in addition to Ashling Park Property, Blanc de Blancs Brut 2014 from West Sussex.
Kent-based Gusbourne additionally noticed Gold for its Commanders Winery, Blanc de Blancs Brut 2019, described as ‘blissfully advanced’ by judges.
A number of UK glowing wines additionally received Silver and Bronze medals at DWWA 2025 – the latter class together with two from Pembrokeshire in Wales – giving followers of nice fizz a lot to discover.
Search all UK glowing medal winners at DWWA 2025
DWWA 2025: Three top-scoring UK glowing wines
Sugrue South Downs, The Hassle With Desires 2009 (in magnum)
Made with fruit from Jenkyn Place Winery in Hampshire. Grapes for the current-release 2020 classic are sourced from the vineyard’s vineyards in East and West Sussex.
97 factors | Finest In Present
DWWA judges mentioned: ‘Fifteen years in glass has given the always-masterful English acidity the brooding time it wants, and the result’s contemporary, extensive and bracing on the nostril, and searchlight-deep on the palate. Sure, the acidity remains to be very a lot the structuring agent right here, however it’s not exhausting to think about stone, sand and salt on the transfer within the background: you’ll discover texture and even glycerol because the acid wave pulls again after you’ve swallowed. It’s nonetheless a teen, filled with vitality and jubilation.’ Alcohol: 12.5% abv.
Digby Positive English, Rosé Brut, West Sussex 2018
97 pts | Platinum
DWWA judges mentioned: ‘Vivid floral notes quilted superbly into ripe strawberries and spice on a backdrop of dried herbs. Bounteous and rounded with a crimson fruit mousse and quenching thrill of piercing acidity that glides in direction of the end.’ Alc: 12%
Bluestone, Blanc de Noirs Brut, Wiltshire 2019
97 pts | Platinum
DWWA judges mentioned: ‘Myriad apricot, peach, cherry pores and skin and floral aromas bask within the comfortable, broad texture and supple mousse. Targeted and vibrant with a tapering acidity and a tingling black tea component to shut. Lengthy and rewarding.’ Alc: 12%
