All the medallists from the Global Sauvignon Blanc Masters 2024

Often unkindly dismissed as ‘one-dimensional’, Sauvignon Blanc, in the right hands, can make wines that combine power and pleasure. Siobhan Turner MW reports.

A SUNNY and surprisingly warm September day was fitting for a Sauvignon Blanc tasting, even if many of the wines on show deserve far more than a “summer quaffer” moniker. We tasted 138 wines over the course of the day, from 14 different countries. As you would expect, New Zealand was by far the most represented, with 44 wines entered, followed by Chile with 25 and South Africa with 18.

Brexit’s pernicious impacts were felt even in this tasting, however, with a huge consignment of Austrian wine still stuck somewhere en route to the UK. In the end, only five made it through in time to be sampled by the judges. These five, however, included the only two wines in the entire tasting to be awarded a Master; one can only wonder if perhaps the border agency has a discerning wine lover in its midst.

The Golds were more widely distributed, with 23 awarded in total to seven different countries. While New Zealand shone here, as you would expect, with 10 of the 23, it was gratifying to see strong showings from South Africa and Italy, picking up three Golds each, and the US, Chile and Australia with two apiece. The final Gold went to a delightful Romanian wine, amazingly priced at less than £10/bottle.

Looking at price points, it was, as you would expect, hard for wines in the under-£10 category to score extremely highly (that lovely Romanian wine excepted), but the vast majority of wines in this bracket did gain medals, for which the whole team behind them should be commended. It was interesting that the wines that did not earn medals most often fell into the £10–£15 category, where at times what felt like carelessness or greed had diluted the power and pleasure of what can be a wonderful grape variety.

Sauvignon Blanc has a reputation – sometimes deserved – of being onedimensional, and it was thus gratifying to read through the tasting notes, not just of my judging group, but of the other two groups as well, and see just how often the words “layered” or “complex” appeared. The wines in this tasting did not all take home Gold medals, but the vast majority were wines with presence, often elegance, and almost always with real interest and allure. The textured Austrian examples in particular are wines deserving of further contemplation and consideration.

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About the competition

With high-quality judges and a unique sampling process, The Global Sauvignon Blanc Masters provides a chance for your wines to shine. The 2024 competition was judged on 12 September at Kimpton Fitzroy London, employing experienced judges. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding received the ultimate accolade – the title of Sauvignon Blanc Master. This report features the medal winners only. Please visit the Global Masters website for more information or, to enter future competitions – giving you the chance to feature online and in print – please call: +44 (0) 20 7803 2420 or email Sophie Raichura at: sophie@thedrinksbusiness.com