Move over, Central Otago. Au revoir, Bordeaux. Because in Huge Thirsty News, Australia is officially home to the best wines in the world for 2023. And while we may have known this all along, it’s nice for our stellar winemakers, producers and drinkers (yes, you) to get the recognition they deserve. And yes, our wine glasses are ready.
Trumping Italy, France, Spain, New Zealand, Argentina, and well, every other country on Earth, little old Australia has taken home the most Best in Show awards – ten in total – in the Decanter World Wine Awards 2023, which is regarded as the world’s biggest and most legit wine competition, now in its 20th year.
A Best in Show award is the highest accolade awarded by the judges, who taste tested around 74,000 bottles of wine from 60 countries for this year’s competition. The next award is Platinum, Gold, Silver – and you get the gist.
Brokenwood Wines from the Hunter Valley were the only New South Wales winery to nab one of these awards, with their ILR Reserve Semillon. Penfolds from South Australia’s Adelaide Hills, and Jacob's Creek from South Australia's Barossa Valley also took home a Best in Show award for one of their drops. The Eden Valley, Margaret River, Rutherglen and McLaren Vale were the other Aussie wine regions to take home awards. You can check out the full list of Australian winners here.
Thanks to our environment, soil and climate, we make some pretty delicious wines. And now the rest of the world knows it, too. Cheers.