The 2024 Welsh Wine Awards took place at the iconic Llanerch Vineyard Hotel, Hensol on 15 November. The awards are sponsored by Vigo, a part of the Rawlings Group, and organised by the Welsh Vineyards Association (WVA). There were 73 wines from across Wales, from 17 different vineyards, about 50% up from last year’s entry, which was itself a record.

The wines were sampled by a panel of five expert judges, including Masters of Wine from Wales and France. The tasting was divided into five different flights consisting of white and rosé sparkling, followed by rosé, white and red still wines. In spite of the challenging conditions of 2023, from which harvest many of the wines were produced, the judges were impressed by the overall quality, awarding a total of 39 bronze and 12 silver medals.

The winning wines were as follows:

  • Best sparkling white (sponsored by Levercliff Associates Ltd): Velfrey Vineyard’s Velfrey NV
  • Best sparkling rosé (sponsored by Halfpenny Green Wine Estate): Vale Vineyard’s 2022 Sparkling Rosé
  • Best still rosé (sponsored by Food & Drink Wales): Vale Vineyard’s 2023 Rosé
  • Best still white (sponsored by Three Choirs Vineyards Ltd): Montgomery Vineyard’s Solaris 2023
  • Best still red (sponsored by Food & Drink Wales): White Castle Vineyard’s Regent 2022.

Regent 2022 from White Castle Vineyard, was chosen as the best wine with PDO/PGI (an internationally recognised standard certifying its provenance and quality) and winner of the Martin Vickers Memorial Trophy. This award was sponsored by
inprint.org.uk. The same wine was also chosen as the Best Overall Wine (sponsored by John Buchan Agronomy Ltd) and winner of the Thomas Davies Memorial Trophy.

During the presentation ceremony, there was a video presentation by Deputy First Minister Huw Iranca-Davies. 

WVA Chair Andy Mounsey concluded by thanking everyone involved who had come together to make the event such a success including Llanerch for hosting, the participating vineyards, the judges, and the sponsors.

Pictured: Robb and Nicola Merchant of White Castle Vineyard were presented with their trophy for Best Overall Welsh Wine 2024 by Paul Greengrass of principal sponsors Vigo, a part of the Rawlings Group, with Andy Mounsey, Chair of the Welsh Vineyards Association

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