All the medallists from The Global Under £10 Masters 2025

This new competition focuses on the value end of the wine market, with results that impressed our judging panel. Patricia Stefanowicz MW reports. A VERY small percentage of wines sell globally for more than £10 a bottle at retail. In the UK, Nielsen reported that, in 2023, only 4% of wines sold in major multiples cost over £10. In the US, the percentage of wines selling for under US$12 is around 75%, and in the European Union, prices for ‘everyday wine’ are even cheaper. As inflation bites into disposable incomes for many customers around the world, it is expected that this segment of the wine market will grow. So it is only appropriate in 2025 that the drinks business should add a new Global Masters focusing on this price bracket. Our expert judges approached this competition with both excitement and trepidation. Many of us do not drink (or even taste) these wines on a regular basis, so we weren’t sure what to expect. One of our core group of judges, however, is an experienced buyer of these wines. As a guide, he is invaluable, and he suggested that we should be “dispassionate and realistic”, looking for forward fruit, a fresh and clean character with no faults, and typicity of what the wine claims to be. So, in this competition, we judges were looking for appealing products that were good, expressive examples of inexpensive wines, not for wines to be compared with the stratospherically-priced very best examples of the same styles. What we found was all the fun of the fair, with the wines earning their well-deserved Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. The wines we tasted very much met, and often exceeded, our expectations.

Don't discount sparkling

Sparkling wine below £10 may seem unlikely, but the wines we judged were very drinkable. Jaume Serra from Catalunya showed well, achieving Golds for its Bouquet Brut and Bouquet Semi Seco Cavas. Dry white wines were probably the most successful category. A wide range of varieties and blends were tasted. Succulent and attractive, these easy-drinking wines are definite crowd-pleasers.

Mainstream international varieties, such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, and more obscure local varieties, including Albariño/Alvarinho and Viognier, achieved Gold awards. Countries producing the wines we tasted were largely New World: Chile, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, but there were some enticing Old World examples from Portugal and Italy. Our Grand Master for the tasting was a lovely Chilean Viognier, Cono Sur’s Bicicleta.

Well-deserved gold

There were very few rosés in the competition, but those we had performed well. Our only non-alcoholic wine of the day was a Silver medallist from Languedoc-Roussillon, Oh My Baie, and Viña Santa Rita’s 120 Reserva Especial Rosé was awarded a well-deserved Gold. The red wines seemed a little less successful. The unoaked reds, while decently drinkable, in some cases lacked substance. Oaked reds were better. Golds were given to Viña Santa Carolina Cabernet Sauvignon, Carpineto Tuscan Sangiovese-Cabernet Sauvignon, Gordon Ramsay Intenso Rosso cross-regional Italian blend, and Pata Negra Toro Roble from Castilla y León. There was a little judges’ angst about the possibility of residual sugar having a negative impact on the wines. In the whites, there was residual sugar in some, but it seemed balanced by fruit and crisp acidity. Thankfully, there was no obvious evidence of residual sugar in the dry reds, which showed good balance of sweet fruit, fresh acidity and supple tannins. While these wines may not reach great heights of concentration or complexity, they are charmingly fruity, easy-drinking crowd-pleasers. This judge, anyway, would happily recommend (and drink) many of them. In the end, it was an enormously satisfying judging day, and I look forward to the next edition.

White Sparkling

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Jaume Serra	Cava Jaume Serra Bouquet Semi Seco	Cataluña	Spain	NV	Gold
Jaume Serra	Cava Jaume Serra Bouquet Brut	Cataluña	Spain	NV	Gold
Bodegas Tagua Tagua	Fortunatto Frizzante Blanco	Central Valley	Chile	NV	Silver
Veuve Amiot	Crémant de Loire	Loire Valley	France	NV	Silver

Rosé Sparkling

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Jaume Serra	Cava Jaume Serra Bouquet Rosado Brut	Cataluña	Spain	NV	Bronze

Still Unoaked White

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Viña Cono Sur	Bicicleta Viognier	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Grand Master
Viña Cono Sur	Bicicleta Chardonnay	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Gold
Stellenrust	Stellenbosch Manor Chenin Blanc	Stellenbosch	South Africa	2024	Gold
Spier Wines	Signature Sauvignon Blanc	Western Cape	South Africa	2024	Gold
Spier Wines	Signature Albariño	Western Cape	South Africa	2024	Gold
Manuel Costa	Flor De Verão Vinho Verde	Vinho Verde	Portugal	NV	Silver
Quinta de Melgaço	QM Loureiro/Alvarinho Vinho Verde	Vinho Verde	Portugal	NV	Silver
Viña Cono Sur	Bicicleta Sauvignon Blanc	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Silver
Sibiliana Co-op	Sibiliana Medoro Sicilia DOC Grillo	Sicily	Italy	NV	Silver
Squealing Pig	Sauvignon Blanc	Marlborough	New Zealand	NV	Silver
Mayor de Castilla	Pata Negra Rueda Sauvignon Blanc/Verdejo Special Edition	Castilla y León	Spain	2024	Silver
Spier Wines	Signature Chenin Blanc	Western Cape	South Africa	2024	Silver
Luis Felipe Edwards	Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc	Valparaiso	Chile	2024	Silver
Wakefield/Taylors Wines	Promised Land Pinot Grigio	South Australia	Australia	2023	Silver
Cantine Vitevis	Gordon Ramsay Pinot Grigio DOC	Veneto	Italy	2024	Silver
Casa Santos Lima	Colinas de Lisboa White	Lisboa	Portugal	NV	Bronze
Belorante	Belorante Grillo Italia	Sicily	Italy	2023	Bronze
Santa Rita	120 Reserva Especial Sauvignon Blanc	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Bronze
Mendoza Vineyards	Argentinian Viognier	Mendoza	Argentina	2024	Bronze
Viña Santa Carolina	Carolina Reserva Sauvignon Blanc	Valle del Maule	Chile	2024	Bronze
Viña Cono Sur	Organic Chardonnay	Santiago	Chile	2024	Bronze
Bodegas Tagua Tagua	Fortunatto Chardonnay	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Bronze
Wakefield/Taylors Wines	Promised Land Chardonnay	South Australia	Australia	2024	Bronze
Viña Concha y Toro	Frontera Sauvignon Blanc	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Bronze

Still Oaked White

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Luis Felipe Edwards	Gran Reserva Chardonnay	Valparaiso	Chile	2024	Silver
Viña Concha y Toro	Frontera Chardonnay	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Silver

No Alcohol Rosé Still

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Oh My Baie	Le Rosé 0.0%	Languedoc-Roussillon	France	NV	Silver

Still Rosé

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Santa Rita	120 Reserva Especial Rosé	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Gold
Vicomté	Kylie Signature Rosé	IGP Terres du Midi	France	2024	Silver
Viña Cono Sur	Bicicleta Sauvignon Blanc Blush	Central Valley	Chile	2023	Silver
LGI wines	Sans Chagrin Cinsault Rosé	Languedoc-Roussillon	France	NV	Bronze

Unoaked Still Red

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Winery Krko	Simple Red - Cviek	Posavje	Slovenia	2024	Silver
Bodegas Tagua Tagua	Calmo Reservado Cabernet Sauvignon	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Silver
Bodegas Tagua Tagua	Castillo del Emperador Cabernet Sauvignon	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Silver
Finca Manzanos	Los Hermanos Rioja DOCa Tinto	Rioja	Spain	2023	Silver
Fuse	Watercourse Shiraz	South Australia	Australia	2023	Silver
Manoir du Carra	Non Filtré Beaujolais-Villages	Beaujolais	France	NV	Bronze
LGI wines	Le Bariole Carignan Vielles Vignes Rouge IGP	Languedoc-Roussillon	France	2023	Bronze
Bodegas Tagua Tagua	Fortunatto Cabernet Sauvignon	Central Valley	Chile	2024	Bronze
Belorante	Montepulciano D'Abruzzo DOC	Central Italy	Italy	2022	Bronze
Celler del Pescador	Tres Cabezas	Catalonia	Spain	NV	Bronze

Oaked Still Red

Winery	Name of wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Viña Santa Carolina	Carolina Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon	Valle del Maule	Chile	2023	Gold
Carpineto	Dogajolo Rosso	Tuscany	Italy	2022	Gold
Buontalenti	Gordon Ramsay Intenso Rosso	Tuscany /Abruzzo/Sicily	Italy	2021	Gold
Sietecerros	Pata Negra Toro Roble Special Edition	Castilla y León	Spain	2023	Gold
Stellenrust	Stellenbosch Manor Cinsault	Stellenbosch	South Africa	2023	Silver
Luis Felipe Edwards	Bin Series Merlot	O'Higgins	Chile	2024	Silver
Viña Cono Sur	Organic Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere/Syrah	Chile	Chile	2023	Silver
Santa Rita	120 Reserva Especial Cabernet Sauvignon	Central Valley	Chile	2023	Silver
Sibiliana	Beltramo Sicilia DOC Nero d'Avola	Sicily	Italy	NV	Silver
Marqués de Carrión	Pata Negra Rioja Crianza Special Edition	Rioja	Spain	2019	Silver
Compagnie Médocaine des Grands Crus	Cap Royal	Bordeaux	France	2022	Silver
Spier Wines	Signature Shiraz	Western Cape	South Africa	2023	Silver
Spier Wines	Signature Pinotage	Western Cape	South Africa	2023	Silver
Kingsland Drinks	Washington State Merlot	Washington State	USA	2022	Silver
Santa Rita	120 Reserva Especial Pinot Noir	San Antonio	Chile	2023	Silver
Colinas de Lisboa	Tinto Red	Lisboa	Portugal	2023	Silver
Luis Felipe Edwards	Gran Reserva Malbec	O'Higgins	Chile	2023	Bronze
Luis Felipe Edwards	Gran Reserva Merlot	O'Higgins	Chile	2022	Bronze