France was the country with the highest number of distinctions at the 16th SISGA, held in Gijón, with a total of 30 awards. The French tally included one Premium, one gold medal, 13 silver medals and 15 bronze medals, confirming the strength of French cider in one of the leading international cider competitions.
France was the country with the highest number of awarded products at the 16th International Hall of Gala Ciders (SISGA), held in Gijón, with a total of 30 distinctions.
The count has been made by grouping the results correctly by territory. Under that method, Madeira is counted within Portugal, while La Palma and Valleseco are counted within the Canary Islands. Using that consistent territorial criterion, France leads the ranking by total number of awards.
The French result breaks down into one Premium, one gold medal, 13 silver medals and 15 bronze medals. This was therefore not an isolated success in a single category, but a broad performance across the competition.
Orchard Solstice, by Pointy Head Cider, won the gold medal in category 2.2.4, Natural carbonation sweet.
France’s top distinction came from La Cidrerie Marseillaise, which won the Premium in the natural carbonation brut nature category with “Cidre Bio Naturel Artisanal & Urbain: La Cuvée Provençale”.
From there, the French presence spread across a wide range of styles and producers. Makers such as Domaine de la Galotiere, Cidre de Garde, Cidrerie Viard, Domaine de la Mare and Cidrerie du Pilat collected several distinctions in different categories, reinforcing France’s position as one of Europe’s major cider-producing countries.
One of the most prominent names was Domaine de la Galotiere, with awards in several sparkling cider categories as well as ice cider. That breadth reflects the diversity of the French cider scene within the competition.
Cidre de Garde, Cidrerie Viard, Domaine de la Mare and Cidrerie du Pilat also stood out, each with several awarded products ranging from brut or semi-dry ciders to liqueur and perry.
French participation in SISGA had already been showing a strong and varied profile. In LA SIDRA we have already covered PHC Cidrerie at the 16th SISGA, as well as producers from specific areas such as Cidrerie et Ruchers Sarthois, Cidrerie Distillerie Jouny and the international path of the event itself, reflected in the article on SISGA in Tokyo.
This year’s results confirm that strength. The comparison with the SISGA25 awards ranking also shows that the French presence is not a one-off outcome, but part of an increasingly visible international consolidation.
Beyond the quantitative result, the French lead is especially relevant because of the variety of awarded products: still cider, sparkling cider, perry, liqueur and even ice cider. That diversity points to a broad sector with strong regional roots and the ability to compete across very different profiles.
So, when looking at the total number of distinctions obtained, France had the best results at the 16th SISGA.
