Throughout the evening, the British actor David Ajala served as master of ceremonies, even getting some guests to join him onstage for a quick boogie. The multi-course dinner was cooked up by Kyle and Katina Connaughton of the Michelin three-star SingleThread in California: A savoury duck-liver parfait was paired with the sweet Château d’Yquem 2022, while guinea-hen katsu was accompanied by Château Lafite Rothschild 1989 poured out of a show-stopping Imperial bottle. And with the opening dish—an assortment of seafood bites meant to give a taste of both Sonoma and Miami—the attendees were the first to sample the Dom Pérignon 2008 Plénitude 2 before its global release next year.

As for the awards themselves, the nine trophies were voted on by a panel of 830 experts, including Master Sommeliers and WSET Diploma holders. A testament to the global nature of the event, the winners hailed from California (Harlan Estate, Best Fine Wine Producer in the Americas) to Australia (Henschke, Best Fine Wine Producer in the Rest of the World).

“I’d like to tell you a story that begins 180 years ago with a German-speaking refugee called Johann Christian Henschke arriving in South Australia,” said Johann Henschke, the label’s current winemaker, when accepting the award. “His family’s desperate pursuit of religious freedom had freshly taken its toll, with his wife and two of four children dying during that fateful journey from Europe. His belief and resilience drove him forward, starting a family again and selling his first wines from the Barossa’s Eden Valley in 1868. Six generations later, I stand before you in Miami—in the latest chapter of this story—to receive this award that my ancestor Johann could have never thought possible.”

The two biggest awards of the evening stayed squarely in Europe, though: The Best Fine Wine Producer went to Spain’s Vega Sicilia, and the Hall of Fame award was handed to Jean Trimbach of France.

Liquid Icons is based in England, and several presenters and winners called out Arsenal as they took to the podium. (Next year’s ceremony will, in fact, take place in London.) Ajala also ended the night by leading the crowd in Arsenal’s “North London Forever” chant. (The North London club played against Sunderland on Saturday evening, with the final score 2-2.)

Ajala wasn’t the only one belting out tunes, either: British American singer Aiyana-Lee performed a handful of songs about halfway through the award announcements, including “Highest 2 Lowest,” which she wrote with her mother for the new Spike Lee film of the same name.

It may not have been a Hollywood awards show like the Golden Globes, but the Golden Vines had all the same glitz and glamour—and, probably, better drinks.

Golden Vines 2025 winners