Appearing in the Master Winemaker 100 is a huge honour in itself. To feature, a winemaker must have secured a Master medal in one of our competitions, requiring their wines to be judged blind by Masters of Wine and top experts. Only the very best secure that award, allowing them the chance to feature in the guide.
Yet there are individual awards too. For each competition, just one Master medallist is selected as the very best of the year. The judges also recognise the best new entrant to the year’s competition and, most importantly, must deliberate to crown the Master Winemaker of the Year.
So who managed to secure these coveted awards in the 2025 guide? Read on for every winner featured this year.
Master Winemaker of the Year: Rosemary Cakebread
Having produced two Master winners (and for two competitions, no less) Rosemary Cakebread of Gallica Wine receives the guide’s top honour this year. She secured a top medal in the inaugural Global Cabernet Franc Masters with the Gallica Cabernet Franc 2019 and then triumphed with her Gallica Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 in a competitive edition of the Global Cabernet Sauvignon Masters. Cakebread follows in the footsteps of Gérard Bertrand, winner in the 2023 guide, and fellow Napa winemaker Chris Carpenter last year.
Best Chenin Blanc: Johan Jordaan
Johan Jordaan, the winemaker behind Spier, flew the flag for South Africa at the Global Chenin Blanc Masters 2024. Both the Good Natured Chenin Blanc 2023 and the 21 Gables Chenin Blanc 2022 won Master medals in a notably high-scoring competition.
Autumn Tasting Award: Bruce Jack
The Autumn Tasting is a demonstration of the breadth of the world of wine, open to entrants that could compete in existing Global Wine Masters competitions but also those wines that do not fit into an existing category. Bruce Jack’s win for the Bruce Jack Heritage Flag of Truce Pinotage 2022 proved the importance of that latter group. How long until we see a Global Pinotage Masters? Time will tell.
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