Each year, the 50 Great White Wines of the World awards celebrate the very best in global white winemaking. Bringing together wines from mostly little known producers, the competition offers a focused, authoritative snapshot of white wine excellence today. All wines are judged blind by a panel of experienced wine professionals, ensuring that each wine is evaluated purely on its merits, without brand, price, or regional bias.
Judges are a blend of sommeliers, winemakers, wine educators, and other trade experts and they core each wine out of 100, based on aroma, structure, varietal expression, balance, and finish. Only wines scoring 90 points or higher are featured, which underscores the exceptional standards of this unique competition.
Scoring and Medals
- Gold medals are awarded for wines scoring 95 points and above
- Silver medals are given to wines scoring between 90 and 94.9 points
From the white wines entered, only the 50 best scoring wines are listed in the awards table below.
Exceptional Performance
The wines were categorized and tasted according to oak ageing and residual sugar content. This year showed a clear preference for dry, both unoaked and oaked whites, reflecting both consumer demand and the panel’s appreciation for purity, freshness, and varietal clarity.
In the “No Oak” category, the top score was the 2023 Ca’ Brusade Chardonnay from Freccianera Fratelli Berlucchi, Italy, scoring 98 points.
Among wines aged 3–6 months in oak, the standout was the Casa Relvas Rabo de Ovelha 2024 by Casa Relvas, Italy, with 94 points.
In the “6+ months oak” group, the highest scorers each with 97 points were the NV Kaputt White by Van Zeller Wine Collection, Douro, Portugal, Chateau Haut Bertinerie Grand Vin Blanc 2024 by Vignoble Bertinerie, Blaye Cotes Bordeaux, France, Vernaccia Valle del Tirso IGT Sa Crannatza de Silviu Cata 2020 by Silvio Carta, Sardinia, Italy and 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Kranachberg Sonnenhang DAC by Domaines Kilger, Südsteiermark, Austria
A smaller number of wines with 5–18 g/L of residual sugar also placed in the top ranks. The best scoreing wine in the 5–18 g/L sugar, no oak category was the Volarik – Ryzlink Rynsky – Terroir Purmice 2023 by Vinarstvi Volarik, South Moravia, Czechia, scoring 95 points..and in the 6+ months oak group Volarik – Palava – Terroir U Venuse 2022 scored 97 points.
Country Performance
While this is a global competition, Europe dominated the leaderboard this year. The highest-performing countries included: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria and France. Notably, there were no Australasia, South African or American wines among this year’s top 50, underscoring either lower participation or stronger performance by Old World producers.
Results Trusted by the Trade
These results are closely followed by wine buyers, distributors, and on-trade professionals around the world. The blind judging format, the credibility of the panel, and the consistency of the scoring process mean that the 50 Great White Wines of the World awards are a trusted benchmark.