IWSC Wine and Spirits Judging in Georgia: judges' deliberations

Kicking off our 2025 Global Judging events, we headed to Georgia for the IWSC Wine and Spirits Judging in the country. For the first time, as well as tasting Georgian and Armenian wines, our judges are also rating the region’s spirits. Following the first 2 days of judging, we caught up with the panel to find out their standouts from the judging so far.

The IWSC Wine and Spirits Judging in Georgia, in partnership with the Gurjaani Wine Festival and National Wine Agency of Georgia saw over 400 entries from across Georgia and Armenia. Our international wine judging team is led by Sarah Abbott MW, joined by a panel of the UK’s prominent wine experts: Will Hill, Rachael Pogmore, Sunny Hodge, and David Kermode. Local Georgian and Armenian wine professionals have also joined the panel bringing their invaluable insight and experience. Our spirits judging team is overseen by internationally renowned sommeliers, Eric Zwiebel MS and Salvatore Castano.

Over the first 2 days, the judges have assessed an exciting range of Georgian and Armenian wines.

Georgian red wines were awarded a wealth of medals at the judging this year. Saperavi from Kakheti region was a favourite of the judges, with almost every wine tasted gaining a medal – an impressive result! Three wines in particular stood out to the judges earning strong gold medals. The judges described one of these wines as “clean, smooth and round with great acidity and length”.

Just as last year, Orange wines, including qvevri-made ones, put on an impressive performance, with the panel awarding 8 gold medals across the styles and varieties on show. One of these worthy winners, an orange wine made from Khikvi, was vividly described as “a very particular wine with creamy honey apricot and hints of mandarin skin, followed by a beautiful finish”. While a flight of Orange Rkatsiteli wines was described as one judge as their "highlight of the day".

Areni, Armenia’s signature grape, performed strongly with 3 gold medals alone going to wines from Vayots Dzor region. “Better examples of Areni were rewarded for their finesse rather than power, particularly when the balance of more interesting flavours aside from the fruits were on show,” said the judges.

The flight of Areni blends was awarded a high number of bronze medals, with one exceptional example taking a silver medal. This silver medal winner was described by the judges as having a “juicy mouthfeel, smooth and full of crunchy red fruits with a prominent minerality to it.” While the panel was pleased with the quality on show in the Areni blends, they cautioned producers to move away from masking fruit with oak and tannins.

Armenian white wines were praised by the judges as being “well made with a pleasing diversity of varieties and styles”. One particularly wine was described as “fresh and lively, with some nice texture to it,” and was awarded a silver medal.

Overall this has been another superb year of judging in Georgia, with the exceptional quality of entries reflected by the medal results. Tomorrow, our panel will be tasting and rating the spirits of Georgia and Armenia. Keep an eye out for our full results announcement on the 3 December to find out how the wines and the spirits performed.