It’s shaping up to be a huge year for Australia’s wine scene. This November, the prestigious World’s 50 Best Vineyards will host its first-ever awards ceremony outside of Europe and the Americas – landing in none other than Western Australia’s Margaret River. As if that weren’t enough reason to raise a glass, ‘Margs’ has just been crowned the world’s top-performing wine region in the 2025 International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC), scooping up an impressive 22.5 per cent of all trophies.
The IWSC is one of the world’s largest and most influential drinks competitions, with judges tasting more than 12,000 wines from 90 countries before crowning the winners. Only 40 trophies are awarded globally, and this year, Australian wines claimed ten of them. Remarkably, nine came from the Margaret River Region – that’s 22.5 per cent of all trophies – outperforming powerhouses like France (15 per cent), Spain (10 per cent) and Portugal (10 per cent). It’s an extraordinary feat for one of the most remote fine wine regions on Earth, which accounts for just two per cent of Australia’s annual wine production.
Photograph: Tourism Western Australia
Four of Margaret River’s cabernet sauvignons took home trophies, including Xanadu Wines’ 2023 vintage, which scored an impressive 98 points. Not only was it the highest-scoring Australian wine, but at just $45 a bottle, it proves you can get a world-class drop without paying a fortune. Meanwhile, four of the Margaret River winners were chardonnay, including Deep Woods Estate’s Reserve Chardonnay 2024 and 2023 (both 97 points) and Nocturne’s Sv Forrest Chardonnays (96 points).
The only other Australian trophy winner outside Margaret River was Morris of Rutherglen’s Cellar Reserve Grant Muscat NV from Victoria. You can check out the full list of award winners here, or see the trophy-winning Australian wines below.
Here are the IWSC 2025 trophy winners from Australia
Amato Vino: Savagnin Space Girls 2024
Aravina Estate: Stella Bdx 2022
Deep Woods Estate: Reserve Chardonnay 2024
Deep Woods Estate: Reserve Chardonnay 2023
Happs: Three Hills Chardonnay 2023
Morris of Rutherglen: Morris Cellar Cellar Reserve Grand Muscat NV
Nocturne: SV Forrest Chardonnay 2024
Peccavi Estate: The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
Snake and Herring: Cannonball Cabernet Sauvignon 2023
Xanadu Wines: Cabernet Sauvignon 2023
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