This Tasmanian White Was Just Named World’s Best White Wine

At one of the world’s most respected blind tastings, a white wine from an unlikely corner of the globe has beaten hundreds of rivals to be crowned Champion White Wine of 2025. Judges at the International Wine Challenge (IWC) in London praised it as “captivating,” awarding it 98 points — a score few wines ever achieve.

The result marks the second time this little vineyard has taken the trophy, cementing its reputation as one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most remarkable terroirs.

Now in its 41st year, the IWC is regarded as one of the toughest wine competitions in the world. Each entry is judged blind, assessed for the purity of style, the typicity of region and grape, and its balance and character. To emerge on top requires not just technical brilliance, but a wine that moves seasoned judges.

This year, the panel of international experts reserved its highest praise for a wine that hails not from Burgundy or Napa, but from the windswept cool-climate island of Tasmania. The Champion White Wine award is given to the best white wine in the entire competition, judged from thousands of entries worldwide.

The winner was nonetheless the 2023 Chardonnay from Tolpuddle Vineyard, located near Richmond in Tasmania’s Coal River Valley. Established in 1988 and acquired in 2011 by celebrated Australian winemakers Martin Shaw and Michael Hill-Smith MW – owners of Shaw + Smith in Adelaide Hills – Tolpuddle has built a cult following for its precise, mineral-driven Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Chief winemaker Adam Wadewitz called the award “an incredible honour,” adding: “To be named Champion White at the International Wine Challenge is an incredible honour. The IWC is one of the most respected competitions in the world, judged by people we greatly admire, so this recognition is really meaningful. It’s a testament to the dedication of our vineyard and winemaking teams, and to the extraordinary Tolpuddle Vineyard site.”

The winning Chardonnay had already swept six other IWC trophies this year, including Best Australian White Wine, Best Australian Chardonnay, and the coveted International Chardonnay Trophy. It continues a string of accolades that has seen Tolpuddle named Decanter’s White Wine of the Year in 2022, earn a top-20 ranking in the Halliday Wine Companion’s Top 100 Wineries, and join the prestigious Langton’s Classification.

Its Pinot Noir, too, is on the rise — Halliday predicts it will soon become one of Australia’s most collectible reds.

Such recognition has only intensified demand. Tolpuddle’s 2023 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, both priced at AUD 105, are produced in limited quantities. They now appear mainly on select fine wine lists, with specialist merchants, and in the winery’s own tasting room. In Hong Kong, distribution is handled exclusively by Links Concept.

Tolpuddle’s victory also underscores Tasmania’s growing profile as a source of world-class wine. The island’s cool climate, ancient soils, and long ripening season produce wines of precision and elegance — qualities once thought to be the domain of Europe’s classic regions.

With this latest win, Tolpuddle has not only put its own name in lights but also shone a spotlight on Tasmania as one of the world’s most exciting frontiers for fine wine.