If you’re planning on taking your boat to France, Spain, Italy or Portugal this year, then you could discover some of the best wines in the world.

This year Decanter magazine’s panel of experts tasted more than 10,000 wines in the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards , the most prestigious and influential wine competition on the planet. Christelle Guibert, Decanter’s tasting director, offers her own personal pick of this year’s regional trophy winners.

Regional trophy winners

United Kingdom

Sparkling UK over £10 Trophy

Hush Heath Estate, Balfour Brut Rosé, Kent 2005

Pale onion skin colour, delicate perfume, fresh strawberry, quince, and floral. Crisply elegant with a prominent mousse, mild red fruit and a toasty malolactic character.

£ 33-34.99

France

Red Regional France over £10 Trophy

Vignobles Laplace, Château d’Aydie, Madiran 2006

Lean black cherry, smoke and vanilla on the nose, with chunky, opulent styling on the palate and great integration of oak ageing with a savoury fruit character.

£10.95-14.99

White Burgundy over £10 Trophy

Maison Albert Bichot Domaine du Pavillon, Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes Burgundy 2007

Butter, canteloupe melon, toast and cream – plenty of bold oak. Full, fat and ripe with a nice defining acidity to keep freshness over the intense nutty sur-lie character. Well-integrated and lengthy.

£39.00

Spain

Red Rioja over £10 Trophy

CVNE, Pagos de Viña Real, Rioja 2002

Traditional style with a big whack of fruit, intense and savoury. Stylish complexity, soft tannins, baked cherry fruit and leather.

£49.99; Wmb, Cmb, PWA,You, Evy

Sweet Sherry Over £10

Emilio Lustau Añada 1990, Sweet Oloroso, Sherry

Amber shade with an inviting chocolate toffee aroma and sweet briar fruit – a lovely array of flavour. Beautiful balance with lively, intense, long and fine fragrance

£16.99-26

Italy

Veneto over £10 Trophy

Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference, Amarone della Valpolicella 2006 Red Red Italian Varietal over £10

Tobacco, tea-leaf, floral, leather and slightly raisined cherry and raspberry fruit. Broad, lush, sumptuous: polished tannins with a lot of spice complexity. full-bodied plummy fruit that makes for an eclectic and successful mouthful.

£14.69

Italy White over £10 Trophy

Monte Tondo Foscarin Slavinus, Soave Superiore Classico 2006

Resplendent straw shade in the glass, delicate floral and honey aromas with some nougat and emergent honey. Deft oaking creates a very balanced palate with some bitter white peaches, currants and great zing from the acidity.

£16.65

Portugal

Madeira over £10 Trophy

Henriques & Henriques, 15 year old Bual Madeira

Oily texture, tawny colour and rich, meaty, nutty, vanilla, caramel, prune and raisin aromas. Sweet and clean with an attractive burnt sugar character.

£20-22

Red Northern Portugal under £10 Trophy

Quinta do Tedo, Douro 2007

Aromatically powerful, blockbusting, gutsy red cherry fruit. Victoria plum, violets plus attractive toasty notes and bags of tannin that should welcome both food and friends!

N/A UK

To search for a trophy-winning wine, see the full list of international winners in all categories and for stockists, visit www.decanter.com .