2026 was the 4th Year for the Essex Wine Awards and was held at the Clay Hill Vineyard in the Crouch Valley. Clay Hill has a long history for growing excellent grapes, selling their grapes as far as Cornwall and making excellent wines. The competition was judged using the International Wines and Spirits Competition and the Decanter World Wine Awards standards. Only wines that reach those high standards will be awarded medals. Even though this is a regional competition, the wines from Essex are world class and deserve to be treated so.

2026 saw the continuation of the Roy Martin Award for innovation. In 2024 Clay Hill Vineyard won the first award for their Riesling and in 2025 New Hall Vineyard won it for their Sparkling Bacchus made in the Charmonte method (how Prosecco is made).

We are delighted to announce that the winner of 2026 The Roy Martin Innovation Award is Bures Valley Vineyard for their Sauvignon Blanc. This was their first vintage too. The award is in recognition of a vineyard pushing the boundaries, a Sauvignon Blanc from England!

PUBLIC TASTING

There was a public tasting of the wines submitted on 20th June 2026 at Clay Hill which was very well received, with people from around the county attending to try the excellent selection of wines.