IWSC Wine and Spirits Judging in Georgia 2026: judges' deliberations

Kicking off our 2026 Global Judging events, we headed to Georgia for the IWSC Wine and Spirits Judging in the country. As well as tasting Georgian and Armenian wines, our judges also rated the region’s spirits. Following the 2 days of judging, we caught up with the panel to find out what stood out, what suprised them, and what they want to try more of.

The IWSC Wine and Spirits Judging in Georgia, in partnership with the Gurjaani Wine Festival and National Wine Agency of Georgia saw almost 400 entries from across Georgia and Armenia. Our international wine judging team was led by Wine Judging Committee member Sarah Abbott MW, who was joined by a panel of the UK’s prominent wine experts: Will Hill, Rebecca Palmer, Sunny Hodge, Adam Michocki, David Kermode and Joanna Nerantzi. Local Georgian and Armenian wine professionals also joined the panel bringing their invaluable insight and experience. Our spirits judging team was overseen by internationally renowned sommelier and wine buyer Salvatore Castano.

Overall, the judges were pleased with the quality on show at this year's competition. "What is always so surprising and exciting with Georgia is the breadth and depth of the line-up - such different and thrilling styles which surprise and delight" shared judge Rebecca Palmer.

White and orange wines saw a significant number of gold and silver medals, with Sunny Hodge highlighting "The white wines were hugely impressive and far outperformed the red's we tried (as a whole). They were consistently cleaner, and well put together, Many consumers often expect the funk from qvevri wines, yet these whites and oranges diplayed real winemaking skill in presenting well constructed examples of Georgian white wines."

Georgia's indigenous varities performed well this year too. Local Georgian judge Daria Kholodilinia listed two of the wines from the indigenous varities flights as her favourites of the judging. "Generally, the indigenous grapes flights were very exciting to taste, purely from learning perspective - we had exciting discussions about what was a part of style, and what was rather typical for the variety, and where the limits were" she went on to explain.

Both Rebecca Palmer and David Kermode were in agreement that the Saperavi samples were impressive, offering both serious complexity and savoury depth. Joanna Nerantzi added "The Saperavi Oaked by vintage was exciting; seeing some of the wines preserving the traditional winemaking style and some having more European approach."

Likewise, our judges were pleased to see that Armenian wine performed strongly. David Kermode highlighted the potential for one particular grape: "Areni has enormous potential for Armenia with its beautiful mountain freshness and silky character. And it belongs to Armenia so it gives the country a fantastic USP in a crowded global wine market, largely filled with cut and copy grape varieties."

In the spirits judging, Georgian brandy and Chacha saw a slew of gold medals, something highlighted by judge Salvatore Castano who expressed how Georgian brandies were getting better with each year. While Will Hill found the debates amongst the panel on the vodkas particuarly interesting and useful.

Overall this has been another excellent year of judging in Georgia, with the exceptional quality of entries reflected by the medal results. Keep an eye out for our full results announcement on the 2 December to find out how the wines and the spirits performed.