19/08/2026
Last year, Luke travelled to Portugal after being invited to join the judging panel for the 2025 Wines of Portugal Challenge, which is the country’s major national wine competition.
The scale of it is impressive. More than 1,300 Portuguese wines were entered, there were a group of 24 international judges , blind tasting across a week to decide the medals. The Gold Medal wines were then tasted again by a Grand Jury to select the Great Golds and Wines of the Year.
For Flunder Wines Portugal has become a hugely important part of what we do, working with producers, introducing their wines to customers and telling the stories of the regions, grapes and people behind them.
Spending the 10 days tasting blind alongside judges from around the world was a unique insight into each region.
The trip ended with a trip to the Dao region to visit a host of producers and attending the grand finale where Luke handed out the very first award of the evening where his belt broke hence the strategically placed hands.
A real privilege to have Flunder Wines represented on the international judging panel.
WineAwards Portugal