Heumann La Trinità Platinum, Kővilla Syrah Top Value Gold

As Gosia Young, wine writer of the British Decanter magazine writes in her article, “…the real thrill of the world’s largest wine competition lies in its margins: the grape you can’t pronounce, the region you couldn’t place on a map, the style nobody expected to triumph.” These 5 surprises are 1. red wine from Hungary, 2. Brazil as a wine country, 3. Žilavka white variety from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4. orange wines from “the Caucasus to the Pacific Northwest” and 5. Pico wine region in the Portugal Azores.

This year nearly 17,000 wines were judged blind from 58 countries at Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). See all 2026 results here.

Excerpt from Gosia Young’s recent article (published on 21 August)

Hungary’s hue of red
Hungary is a country that many oenophiles file under sweet wine, and with reason: the honeyed Tokaji Aszú remains one of the world’s great dessert wines and it duly delivered the country a Best in Show this year. But the more surprising story was a red.
For the first time, Hungary earned a Platinum for a red wine: Heumann’s La Trinità, Villány 2019, a 100% Cabernet Franc, part of a banner haul of eight Platinums, up from three last year. It was a wine that turned heads in the judging room.
Dr Caroline Gilby, a Master of Wine who has followed Central and Eastern Europe for decades and was the Regional Chair for the Balkans, Central & Eastern Europe, and Croatia & Slovenia this year, picked out ‘a superb Hungarian Cabernet Franc’ among her personal highlights of the competition. A grape most drinkers associate with the Loire and Bordeaux is finding a second home on the Pannonian plain.

Heumann, La Trinità, Villány, Dél-Pannónia 2019

Platinum, 97 points
Distinctive red cherries and raspberries sit alongside attractive herbal notes, adding layers of complexity. Judicious oak gives structure and depth, with shapely tannins and juicy acidity bringing vibrance. Ageing beautifully, with more to come.
Available in the UK at Novel Wines

Teleki Kővilla, Syrah, Villány, Dél-Pannónia 2024

Top Value Gold, 95 points
Spicy blackcurrant, smoky blueberry and damson are lent extra complexity with violet florals and a minty zing. Fulsome and firm, concentrated and impressively long.
Not available in the UK yet, if interested, contact the export manager

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