Everything you need to know about the Best in Glass Wine Awards

We love awards season: the Golden Globes, the Actor Awards, the Oscars and then the main event – the Dan Murphy’s Best in Glass Wine Awards. If you’re not familiar with that last one, we like to think of it as the Big Dance for wine. In fact, they’re the largest retail wine awards in the country.

It’s a big job, but someone has to do it. This year, for the 2026 awards, 65 wine experts were involved in two rounds of judging across three days. The judging panel included Dan Murphy’s wine merchants, wine buyers, drinks specialists, category managers and wine writers. 

In round one, the judges swirled, sipped and spitooned more than 700 wines (600 from Australia and our friends in New Zealand, and 150 imported wines from countries like Italy, France, Portugal and the US). The wines were tasted and then shortlisted down to six or seven per award class, grouped into their grape varieties, like chardonnay and shiraz). The best wines from round one were then tasted again, this time by our trusted wine merchants only, who then voted on their favourites. From there, 43 winners were crowned across the three winning categories: best-value wines, and the top Aussie and international drops.

So, what were the judges looking for? Rob Aitken, wine buyer at Dan Murphy’s, says the judges were asked to keep it simple; selecting wines that they genuinely liked and found compelling. “We asked the panel to look for drinkability, freshness and joy in the wines,” he says. Sounds exactly like the type of wines we want to drink.

Great wine is important, but so is a great price, and that’s why all eligible wines had to come in under $50. And to be considered in the best-value category, the wines had to cost less than $20, either at their regular price or on a My Dan’s offer (not a member? This is your sign to join now – it’s free).

As Rob says, the wines simply had to be affordable. “We wanted these wines to be accessible to our customers and a celebration of the wines that the majority of people want to drink.”

Want to taste the winners? Showcase events are landing in key stores across Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart on May 30. Find all details here. 

Want more Best in Glass Wine Awards winners? Discover the best whites, best reds, best value wines and the judges’ top picks.