IWC 2026 - Tranche 1 - open for entries!

The new team at the IWC is delighted to announce that they have brought back the two-stage judging process for the 2026 edition of the challenge.

Tranche 1 was originally launched in 2014 with producers from the Southern hemisphere in mind. The idea was that judging in November would allow producers from those regions to enter their wines at a time for optimum freshness so they could showcase new vintages at their best.

However, there is also a clear benefit for Northern Hemisphere winemakers too, especially for their red wines, and for this reason, Tranche 1 is open to all.

The Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners from Tranche 1 will be announced by November 18th to allow for plenty of time to promote results ahead of Christmas and in time for first quarter new listing reviews.

The top winning wines from Tranche 1 will then go forward and be judged alongside the top wines from the April judging in order to award the very best winning Trophies for the 2026 International Wine Challenge.

"This is just one of the changes we are making to the 'new look' International Wine Challenge for 2026. Our aim is to make it easier for entrants to enter their wines at the right time for them and their markets. We now provide one competition, with two entry points," said Chris Ashton, IWC MD.

The competition entry process is now open for entries into IWC 2026 - Tranche 1. Just go to internationalwinechallenge.com to submit your entries.

Key entry deadline dates for IWC 2026 Tranche One:-

July 14th 2025 - IWC Tranche One - open for entries

September 20^th 2025 - deadline to register entry if using the consolidated shipping service

September 26^th 2025 - Consolidated shipping deadline - samples need to be with Hellmann Beverage Logistics

October 10^th 2025 - deadline to register entry if delivering wines direct to IWC warehouse

October 17^th 2025 - samples need to be at IWC warehouse