France Wins 254 Top-Tier Decanter Awards as US, UK and Spain Post Record Years
Updated
Updated · CNN · Jun 17
France Wins 254 Top-Tier Decanter Awards as US, UK and Spain Post Record Years
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Jun 17
Summary
France led the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards with 254 top-tier medals—its best result in the competition’s 23-year history—while Burgundy won more Best in Show honors than any other region.
The results came after 245 judges assessed more than 17,000 wines from 58 countries in London, with Best in Show reserved for just 0.3% of entries.
Italy ranked second with 144 top-tier medals, while Spain logged its biggest-ever haul and Germany nearly doubled its tally; Austria added 2 Best in Show, 8 Platinum and 15 Gold.
The United States posted its strongest showing yet with 2 Best in Show, 5 Platinum and 32 Gold medals, and Texas earned its first-ever Golds as California, Oregon and Washington still dominated.
The broader awards underscored a widening wine map: the UK collected 217 medals and a Best in Show, Argentina reached a record 61 top-tier wines, and first-time regional Golds went to places including Hiroshima and Inner Mongolia.