Awards
A medal is only worth the competition that gave it. Here is every competition we have parsed results for — with its weight class, the reason for that weight, and the wines it awarded.
- International Wine & Spirit CompetitionMajor competition
Founded 1969. Double-blind tasting — glasses are poured before judges arrive; panels of 3–4 judges assess no more than 65 wines a day; over 250 judges including Masters of Wine. Gold goes to about 3% of entries (silver 28%, bronze 54%), so a gold medal is far more selective than a medal as such.
578 awards · 424 wines · award years 2008–2026
- Decanter World Wine AwardsMajor competition
The largest international wine competition: blind tasting, published methodology
211 awards · 98 wines · award years 2007–2025
- Concours Mondial de BruxellesMajor competition
100% blind tasting, medals capped at about 30% of entries, member of VINOFED
17 awards · 12 wines · award years 2007–2026
- Cathay Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit CompetitionModerate weight
Founded 2008 by Debra Meiburg MW; blind tasting on a 100-point scale, judges include Masters of Wine and a Master Sommelier. Weight is moderate rather than major for two reasons: the competition does not publish its total number of entries, so the share of samples receiving a medal cannot be checked (758 medals and 54 trophies in 2024), and the title of the competition is sold to a sponsor.
5 awards · 4 wines · award years 2012–2022
- International Wine ChallengeUnknown weight
93 awards · 26 wines · award years 2002–2025
- MundusviniUnknown weight
27 awards · 13 wines · award years 2007–2023
- ENOEXPOUnknown weight
20 awards · 16 wines · award years 2009–2022
- Cradle of Wine - National Competition of Georgian WinesUnknown weight
17 awards · 14 wines · award years 2006–2012
- Wine EnthusiastUnknown weight
12 awards · 9 wines · award years 2011–2016
- China Wine and Spirits AwardsUnknown weight
10 awards · 7 wines · award years 2018–2019
- Mundus Vini Summer TastingUnknown weight
10 awards · 7 wines · award years 2016–2025
- Black Sea Region Wines and Spirits ContestUnknown weight
7 awards · 6 wines · award years 2016–2017
- SAKURA - Japan Women's Wine AwardUnknown weight
7 awards · 6 wines · award years 2015–2017
- IntervinUnknown weight
3 awards · 3 wines · award years 2009
- Vinalies InternationaliesUnknown weight
2 awards · 1 wine · award years 2007–2008
- Asia Wine TrophyUnknown weight
1 award · 1 wine · award years 2015
- Emozioni dal MondoUnknown weight
1 award · 1 wine · award years 2013
- Galicja VitisUnknown weight
1 award · 1 wine · award years 2021
- Grand Prix magazynUnknown weight
1 award · 1 wine · award years 2006
- International Qvevri Wine CompetitionUnknown weight
1 award · 1 wine · award years 2018
- SDIWCUnknown weight
1 award · 1 wine · award years 2005
- Shanghai International Wine ChallengeUnknown weight
1 award · 1 wine · award years 2023
- Wine Style AsiaUnknown weight
1 award · 1 wine · award years 2010
What the competition weight means
- Major competition
A major international competition: blind tasting, published methodology, limited share of medals. Such a medal carries weight.
- Moderate weight
A visible competition with a partly published methodology. The medal counts, but is not equal to a major one.
- Pay-to-play
Paid entry and a high share of awards: such a medal says almost nothing about the wine.
- Unknown weight
Not enough public data about the competition — no weight assigned.
Medals are weighted by how trustworthy the competition is — they are never summed as equals, and a wine without awards is not worse than one with a pay-to-play medal. How we weigh awards