This month’s mailing of The Wine Merchant magazine includes our Top 100 Winners’ Supplement.

It features write-ups of all 100 winning wines, as well as the 167 runners-up that just missed the cut.

The digital version is here. Congratulations again to all this year’s winners.

Congratulations to the winners in this year’s Wine Merchant Top 100. It was a tough judging process, with our panel of 21 independents assessing wines not just on their taste credentials, but the value that they offer.

Some excellent wines missed out simply because judges weren’t comfortable with their pricing. The winners this year, all listed below, all impressed with their RRPs – even though many of the wines certainly aren’t cheap. But they do, in the opinion of the judges, offer good value.

The wines – and out 167 Highly Commended wines – will be discussed in more depth in our forthcoming winners’ supplement. All wines in the Top 100 are also available to taste this week at our London Wine Fair stand, upstairs and adjacent to Esoterica.

Trophies

Best Red

Uvas Felices El Hombre Bala Old Vine Garnacha, Madrid, Spain 2015 (£21.99, Boutinot)

Best White

Druida Reserva, Dão, Portugal 2016 (£24, The Knotted Vine)

Best Sparkling

Champagne Lelarge-Pugeot Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, Champagne, France NV (£36.49, Hallgarten)

Best Fortified

Barros Colheita Port, Douro, Portugal 2005 (£29, Hallgarten)

Best Rosé

Bird in Hand Pinot Noir Rosé, Adelaide Hills, Australia 2017
(£14.99, Seckford Agencies)

Best-Value Red

Cantina di Montalcino Brunito, Tuscany, Italy 2015 (£9.95, Enotria & Coe)

Best-Value White

Cavit Bottega Vinai Nosiola, Trentino, Italy 2017 (£9.99, Boutinot)

Best-Value Sparkling

Durello Palladiano Spumante Brut, Veneto, Italy NV (£9.99, Boutinot)

Best-Value Fortified

Valdespino Single-Vineyard Fino, Jerez, Spain NV (£18.49, Liberty Wines)

Best-Value Rosé

Domaines Paul Mas Claude Val Rosé, IGP Pays d’Oc, France 2017
(£6.99, Domaines Paul Mas)

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Another judging day has come and gone. Almost 700 wines have been put through their paces by a team of 21 independent wine merchants and soon our winners will be announced.

This year’s judges came from as far afield as Orkney, Manchester, south Wales and the Isle of Wight. Between them they represent a pretty good cross section of the independent wine trade.

We worked them hard, and there were some tough decisions to be made. And we’re confident that the wines that they enjoyed the most – whether they turn out to be Top 100 winners or the Highly Commended wines that just missed the cut – will make for interesting tasting on our stand at the London Wine Fair.

We’ll unveil the winners on May 21. Watch this space!

We are delighted to announce that entries are now open for The Wine Merchant Top 100’s 2018 competition.

Once again we’re on the hunt for the most impressive wines in specialist independent wine merchants, at all price points. Our winners might retail for £7 or £70 and beyond. The important thing is that they offer brilliant value for whatever the price tag happens to be.

As always, our judges will be a group of independent wine merchants – we’ll be naming this year’s panel over the coming weeks.

Our winners will be showcased at The London Wine Fair in May and featured in a special supplement that will be sent to all 850-plus independent wine merchants in the UK.

Deadline for entries is March 27. You’ll find all the information you need within this website, including your entry form. But please get in touch if you have any queries that you don’t see covered.

Good luck!

As always, every recipient of The Wine Merchant magazine will receive a copy of our winners supplement in July.

It contains descriptions and images of all our winning wines, a run-down of the Highly Commended entries, and information about the judges and how this year’s competition worked.

Here’s the digital version. Congratulations again to everyone who achieved success in a very tough year.

We’re delighted to confirm this year’s Wine Merchant Top 100. We had a record entry this year of just under 700 wines which meant it was tougher than ever to be a winner. Congratulations to all the producers and suppliers who made the cut.

All of the wines are available to taste this week at our stand (V76) at the London Wine Fair. Competition director David Williams and Wine Merchant editor Graham Holter will be happy to discuss how the competition works and what the judges – a panel of 18 independent wine merchants – were looking for in the winning wines.

Look out for our winners supplement, which will feature profiles of all the winning wines and a run-down of our Highly Commended wines too.

Meanwhile, all this year’s Top 100 appear below:

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