After last night’s award ceremony at Wine Paris, db announces the individual award winners from this year’s guide.
Appearing in the Master Winemaker 100 is a huge honour in itself. To feature, a winemaker must have secured a Master medal in one of our competitions, requiring their wines to be judged blind by Masters of Wine and top experts. Only the very best secure that award, allowing them the chance to feature in the guide.
Yet there are individual awards too. For each competition, just one Master medallist is selected as the very best of the year. The judges also recognise the best new entrant to the year’s competition and, most importantly, must deliberate to crown the Master Winemaker of the Year.
So who managed to secure these coveted awards in the 2025 guide? Read on for every winner featured this year.
Master Winemaker of the Year: Rosemary Cakebread
Having produced two Master winners (and for two competitions, no less) Rosemary Cakebread of Gallica Wine receives the guide’s top honour this year. She secured a top medal in the inaugural Global Cabernet Franc Masters with the Gallica Cabernet Franc 2019 and then triumphed with her Gallica Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 in a competitive edition of the Global Cabernet Sauvignon Masters. Cakebread follows in the footsteps of Gérard Bertrand, winner in the 2023 guide, and fellow Napa winemaker Chris Carpenter last year.
Best New Entrant: Ed Carr
The House of Arras chief winemaker was rewarded for a barnstorming entrance into the Global Wine Masters competitions. The House of Arras Rosé 2015 won a Master medal at the Global Sparkling Masters, proving that Tasmania can compete with the very best when it comes to traditional method sparkling wine.
Best Chenin Blanc: Johan Jordaan
Johan Jordaan, the winemaker behind Spier Family Wine, flew the flag for South Africa at the Global Chenin Blanc Masters 2024. Both the Good Natured Chenin Blanc 2023 and the 21 Gables Chenin Blanc 2022 won Master medals in a notably high-scoring competition.
Best Rioja: Emilio Sojo Nalda
As technical director at Bodegas Riojanas, Nalda has access to an enviable supply of developing stocks of Rioja. He proved his aptitude with long-aged examples, winning a Master medal for the Monte Real Gran Reserva Edición Limitada 2009. However, in a true show of versatility, he also took home a top medal from the Rioja Masters 2024 for the more recent Monte Real Reserva Tempranillo Blanco Colleción Larrendant 2020.
Autumn Tasting Award: Bruce Jack
The Autumn Tasting is a demonstration of the breadth of the world of wine, open to entrants that could compete in existing Global Wine Masters competitions but also those wines that do not fit into an existing category. Jack’s win for the Bruce Jack Heritage Flag of Truce Pinotage 2022 proved the importance of that latter group. How long until we see a Global Pinotage Masters? Time will tell.
Best Chardonnay: Kym Schroeter
The Global Chardonnay Masters always proves an unpredictable competition, with high-scoring contenders for the top prize popping up all over the world. This year, it went to a talented winemaker working at an iconic winery. Schroeter, senior white winemaker at Penfolds, won the medal for the Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay 2023.
Best Bordeaux: Marielle Cazaux
As the most recent regional competition to enter the series, the Bordeaux Masters celebrates a region that makes up for its size in large production, fine wine expertise and commercial importance. Cazauz, managing director at Château La Conseillante in Pomerol, won the Master medal for Château La Conseillante 2016.
Best La Place Wine: Luc Morlet
As a subsection of the Bordeaux Masters, the best international fine wines sold through La Place de Bordeaux are pitted against each other. Given the high quality on show, the subcategory merited its own award, which this year went to Morlet, winemaker and co-founder of Morlet FamilyV Vineyards. The judges recognised a truly impressive feat: a trio of Master medals for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages of Morlet Coeur de Vallée.
Best Malbec: Ernesto Bajda
The Global Malbec Masters shows more variety than you might think: Master medals have gone to wines from France and China, for instance. However, Argentina invariably proves that it can create some of the world’s best. Bajda, winemaker at Catena Zapata, did the country proud with his Master medal for Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino 2022.
Best Syrah: Daniela Jansen
Jansen, winemaker at Saronsberg Cellars, continues the strong showing for South Africa in this year’s guide. In a competition that saw every other Master medal awarded to an Australian wine, Jansen secured the overall award for Saronsberg Full Circle 2022. It marks a strong trajectory: the previous vintage earned her a place in the 2024 guide.
Best Riesling: Steve Baraglia
The year’s competitions always end with the Global Riesling Masters, a tasting that can bring everything from steely dry examples to luscious ice wines. For the top award, in fact, the judges split the difference: Baraglia won with a medium dry example from the Clare Valley, Pikes Hills and Valleys Riesling 2023.
Best Grenache: Peter Fraser
When talking of Grenache, the question of vine age often comes to the fore, with vineyards around the world demonstrating that old Grenache vines can create wines of impressive complexity and depth. It should not be surprising, then, that this year’s award for the variety went to a wine built on old vines. Fraser crafted Yangarra Estate Old Vine Grenache 2021, and secured with it this year’s top award for the variety.
Best Rosé: François Matton
Matton won the overall award for one of the year’s largest competitions with a striking addition to the Château Minuty range. Named for the Pantone reference colour of its distinctive wax finish, Château Minuty 281 2023 proved that the wine inside can turn just as many heads as the packaging.
Best Merlot: Ralf Holdenried
The Global Merlot Masters stands as proof that Sideways has not entirely destroyed the grape’s reputation. Indeed, there is a poetic justice that this year’s award-winner is a Californian wine. Holdenried, the director of winemaking at Black Stallion Estate Winery, took home a Master medal for its Limited Release Merlot 2020, proving that you should discount the grape at your peril.
Spring Tasting Award: Veronika Pichler
Like the Autumn Tasting, there are always exciting discoveries to be made at the Spring Tasting, and 2024 was no different. Pichler, the winemaker at spusu, won a Master medal for a quintessentially Austrian creation. Making use of the tradition of blending varieties from a single vineyard, spusu Gemischter Satz The First 2022 showed that, even as its wines become better known, Austria can still offer high quality without compromising authenticity.
Best Sparkling: Antonio Massucco
In the competition for all sparkling wines, Italy is usually well-represented by a host of Proseccos. In 2024, however, the judges were delighted to discover they had awarded a Master medal to something a little rarer. Banfi Cuvée Aurora Riserva 100 Mesi 2012 was awarded a top medal and Massucco, oenologist director at Banfi Piemonte, earned himself the individual award for his traditional method sparkling.
Best Pinot Noir: Matías Ríos
As pioneers in making Chilean Pinot Noir, Cono Sur is often in play for top medals at the Global Pinot Noir Masters. In 2024, its icon wine earned winemaking director Ríos the competition’s very highest prize. Cono Sur Ocio 2021 demonstrated Ríos’ talent with the grape variety beyond a doubt, as well as showing that fine wine lovers should pay attention to Chile’s Pinot Noir.
Best Sauvignon Blanc: Hannes Sabathi
Austrian wineries came out in force to contest last year’s Global Sauvignon Blanc Masters, and one winemaker was rewarded with the award for the best example. Sabathi, the owner of Weingut Hannes Sabathi, earned his Master medal for the Ried Kranachberg Kreuz Sauvignon Blanc 2021. No one, however, should be surprised that the country is producing fine examples of the variety; in last year’s guide, a Sauvignon Blanc helped secure Stefan Krispel the Autumn Tasting Award.
Best Champagne: Hugo Drappier
A favourite of both judges and readers, the Champagne Masters surveys the market from supermarket own-label brands to the most iconic premium cuvées. Drappier secured a Master medal for one such premium cuvée, Grande Sendrée 2012. However, he also ranked highly for an unusual bottling: his Trop M’en Faut comprises 100% Fromenteau, the local name for Pinot Gris.
Best Prosecco: Mirco Balliana
Among the many entries into the Prosecco Masters 2024, judges remarked several times that the DOCG wines and their winemakers were making the strongest case for the region. Chief among them was Balliana, winemaker at Andreola, whose Dirupo Valdobbiadene DOCG Brut 2023, secured a Master medal and the overall award for the tasting.
Best Carmenère: Aurelio Montes Jr
Before joining the family winery in 2007, Montes spent his time working in the world’s premier wine regions to hone his craft. Now chief winemaker at Viña Montes, he has proved that was a valuable use of his time, with the Master medal-winning Montes Wings 2020 earning him the overall award in a tasting that saw many icons of Chilean wine compete.
Best Cabernet Sauvignon: Adam Eggins
It is always impressive when a winemaker secures Master medals across several competitions, and a strong indication that they should feature in The Master Winemaker 100 Guide. This year, Eggins, chief winemaker at Wakefield Wines managed that across two variety-specific competitions. He won with The Visionary Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 – the best in that contest – and followed it with two Master medallist Shiraz bottlings: Wakefield Masterstroke Shiraz 2021 and Wakefield The Pioneer Shirax 2020.
Best Cabernet Franc: Alejandro Vigil
2024 started with a bang: in the brand new Global Cabernet Franc Masters, the Master medallists were spread across five continents. In a hotly contested tasting, however, Vigil secured the overall award for South America (and Argentina specifically). As chief winemaker at El Enemigo, he was responsible for El Enemigo Cabernet Franc 2021, a worthy Master-winner from the competition.
Best Orange Wine: Gérard Bertrand
Bertrand is a regular fixture in the Master Winemaker 100 Guide, earning the title of Master Winemaker of the Year in 2023 and Best Rosé in 2024. Alongside a Master medal for Clos du Temple 2023 at the Global Rosé Masters 2024, he was among the first ever top-scorers at the Global Orange Wine Masters, winning for Villa Soleilla 2022.
Best Sangiovese: David Landini
The Global Sangiovese Masters celebrates examples from all over the world, but it is undeniably a competition in which Italy flexes its winemaking muscles. All of 2024’s Master medallists came from Italy, and it was Landini, general manager and CEO of Villa Saletta, who earned the overall prize. His Chiave di Saletta 2019 demonstrated to the judges fine winemaking and proved why Tuscany is still the epicentre of the variety’s success.
Best Pinot Grigio: Gianfranco Gallo
The award for Pinot Grigio changes its name from time to time: depending on the winner, it may well go by ‘Best Pinot Gris’ next year. Yet no-one could deny that Italy dominates the market with its Pinot Grigio, and Gallo, winemaker and manager at Vie Di Romans, proved that it backs up said dominance with quality. He secured this year’s award for Friuli Isonzo Dessimis 2022 and, for good measure, followed it later in the year with a Master medal at the Global Chardonnay Masters for Vie Di Romans 2021.
