11 Australian Wines Named Best at 2024 Wine Challenge!

The International Wine Challenge, the world’s most influential, impartial and rigorously judged global wine competition, has announced the eleven highest scoring Australian wines in its 2024 competition.

In its 40^th year, the International Wine Challenge awarded medals to 38 countries following an intensive blind tasting by a global panel of experts. Australia continued its streak as the top New World country in terms of medals, coming second only to France. An Australian Cabernet Sauvignon was named the best in the world and for the first time in IWC history, an Australian producer was named Sparkling Winemaker of the Year.

Australian wines judged best in show at IWC 2024:

In a historical first for Australia, the prestigious title of IWC Sparkling Winemaker of the Year went to Ed Carr, Head Winemaker at House of Arras. House of Arras’s sparkling wines picked up 12 medals, as well as The Australian Sparkling Trophy which went to its Blanc de Blancs 2014, described by judges as “a great example of a sparkler tasting like a really serious wine in its own right with bubbles as an extra.”

For the second year in a row, Australian Cabernet Sauvignon was named the best in the world. Robert Oatley’s The Pennant Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 beat wines from 19 other countries to take the top spot. This adds to the eight medals and two trophies already under this family winery’s belt.

It was Shaw + Smith’s Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz 2021 which was named the best Australian red in the challenge. Described by judges as “refreshing and alive in the mouth with blue and black fruits,” it took home five trophies including the Australian Red Trophy and the IWC Sustainable Trophy.

Of the 145 Australian whites awarded medals in this year’s challenge, the top spot went to Tasmanian producer, Stefano Lubiana Wines, for its “beautifully balanced and poised” Collina Chardonnay 2022, which also won the Tasmanian Chardonnay Trophy and Australian Chardonnay Trophy.

Morris Wines in Rutherglen achieved more Golds than any other Australian producer, claiming five top awards for its fortified wines. The Australian Fortified Trophy went to its Old Premium Rare Topaque, which judges described as “rich, complex, luscious, and layered with cocoa, chocolate covered raisins and figs.”

This year’s IWC Lifetime Achievement Award went to Australian wine critic, James Halliday AM. Halliday noted, “I am deeply moved by the decision of the International Wine Challenge to bestow its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award on me. I’m also humbled to join a list of international figures who, over many decades, have played innovative and significant roles extending into the four corners of the wine world.”