House of Cards 2025 Ace High Margaret River Chardonnay has become the first wine in the history of the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) to score 100 points.
The IWSC introduced the 100-point judging scale in 2019.
Established in 2011, the Western Australian family-owned winery also won two other gold medals for 2025 Royals Chardonnay (98 points) and 2024 Kings in the Corner Cabernet Merlot (95 points).
The International Wine & Spirit Competition was established in 1969.
In August the IWSC returned to Margaret River as part of its Global Judging program, with judging taking place in the region from August 26-28.
This was the fourth time the IWSC has held its Global Judging program in Margaret River.
House of Cards was also awarded the IWSC Trophy for Western Australian Producer of the Year, the second time the winery has received the trophy following its first win in 2024.
IWSC co-chair of judges Freddy Bulmer, wine buyer for The Wine Society in the UK, said the 2025 Ace High Chardonnay stood out for its sheer class, depth, complexity and perfect balance.
“When Andrew Caillard MW, who was co-chairing with me, suggested 100 points, I thought: there’s nothing more that this wine could do,” he said.
“We tasted it again, blind, alongside all the gold medal wines at the end of the judging, and both agreed that 100 points was absolutely justified.
“It was an absolutely beautiful wine – absolute perfection.”
Owners Travis and Elizabeth Wray said they were thrilled by the results, particularly the recognition achieved through blind judging.
“We are absolutely blown away that our wines have been so successful after being blind-judged by some of the world’s best judges and MWs,” they said
“To be tasted next to other world-class wines and being awarded a perfect 100 points is something dreams are made of.
“The Margaret River wine region is consistently producing world-class wines and we are so proud that our wine has produced the first-ever perfect 100-point score.”
The House of Cards Chardonnay is 100 percent Gingin clone, a Western Australian heritage clone known for producing powerful fruit.
The fruit is hand-picked and carefully sorted before being treated with the utmost care in the winery.
The wine is 100 percent barrel fermented and matured, with the final blend selected from the top barrels to deliver expressive fruit, power, length and texture.
All fruit comes from the winery’s 12-hectare vineyard in Yallingup.
Organic mulches and cover crops are used to naturally produce nitrogen for the vines.
The vineyard’s close proximity to the ocean contributes cooling breezes and a highly site-specific microclimate.
Only 1,300 bottles of the House of Cards 2025 Ace High Chardonnay were produced.
It is available on the House of Cards website for $100 per bottle.
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