International Wine Challenge announces new global regional structure

The International Wine Challenge, widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential, impartial and meticulously judged wine competitions, has announced a major new regional structure that will see the competition evolve into four regional wine competitions across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the United Kingdom, while maintaining the international standards and blind tasting process that have made IWC one of the wine world’s most respected benchmarks.
The new structure will launch from July 2026, with entries opening for both IWC Americas and IWC Asia Pacific ahead of their first judging events later this year in Mendoza, Argentina and Adelaide, Australia.
Under the new format, wines will continue to be judged blind by expert panels within their regions before Gold medal-winning wines progress to London for International Trophy judging.
The move marks the most significant evolution in the history of the International Wine Challenge and reflects the changing geography of the global wine industry, with a greater focus on regional engagement, accessibility and producer connection.
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The new competition structure includes:
IWC Americas: Mendoza, Argentina 2–6 November 2026
IWC Asia Pacific: Adelaide, Australia, 30 November – 4 December 2026
IWC Europe: Montpellier, France 12–16 April 2027
IWC UK: London, United Kingdom10–14 May 2027
Gold medal-winning wines from all regional competitions will then progress to London for International Trophy judging on 15 May 2027, followed by the IWC Awards in September 2027 at Guildhall, London.

Chris Ashton, Chairman of the International Wine Challenge, said: “IWC remains the global benchmark, but closer to home. Wine is global, but wine communities are regional. The new IWC structure has been designed to bring the competition closer to the producers, people and places shaping the future of wine, while protecting the integrity and international benchmark standards that IWC is built on. For producers, this means greater regional visibility, stronger local engagement and a more accessible route into one of the wine world’s most recognised competitions. What does not change is the standard. Wines will continue to be judged blind by leading experts, with the very best progressing to International Trophy judging in London.” 

Alongside the regional competitions, IWC has also announced the appointment of Regional Co-Chairs who will help lead judging, regional engagement and ambassador activity across each geography, working alongside the existing Global Co-Chairs who continue to oversee standards, Trophy judging and the wider international benchmark of the competition.
The new Regional Co-Chairs include some of the wine world's most respected voices from wine production, buying, journalism, education and the sommelier profession, bringing unparalleled local expertise and global perspective to every stage of judging. 

Competition Co-Chairs:
Oz Clarke OBE will move to a new position of Judge Emeritus, to bring his extensive experience in the competition to assist the new team of Co-Chairs.
The UK Co-Chairs — Sam Caporn MW, Peter McCombie MW, Helen McGinn and Dr Jamie Goode.
Asia Pacific Co-Chairs - Cathy van Zyl MW (South Africa), Erin Larkin (Australia), Yang Lu MS (China), and Kenichi Ohashi MW (Japan)
Americas Co-Chairs, Matías Prezioso (Argentina), Patricio Tapia (Chile), and Christy Canterbury MW (United States)
Sake Co-Chairs - Kenichi Ohashi MW (Japan), Simon Hofstra (Netherlands), Åke Nordgren (Sweden) Natsuki Kikuya (Japan) and Jennifer Docherty MW (Canada/Hong Kong)

Yang Lu MS, Regional Co-Chair, IWC Asia Pacific, said:
"Wine reflects the places where it is grown, so it is fitting that judging should become more closely connected to those regions while maintaining a single international standard. The new structure brings the International Wine Challenge closer to producers, while preserving the independence, rigour and blind tasting process that have earned its global reputation."