Press release: Results and insights of ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL 24

Press release: WINE SYSTEM – Trust Your Senses

Taking a peek into an evolving wine scene: results and winners of the ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL autumn 2024

Hot topics: Oxidation and overall success factors, managing the climate — and the multiple value of a WINE SYSTEM evaluation 

Frasdorf, October 2024 – „No fear of oxidation!“, could be the informal title of the recently completed ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL in autumn 24. Because: The topic of oxidation, and how to handle it in a sensitive, yet calculated manner, happened to be one of the critical factors for this award’s top scorers. Quite like the spring edition, it also showed, that dealing with climate change is and remains a challenge for many wineries. The good news: A constantly growing number of vintners is adapting successfully, both with creativity and viticultural know-how. Grand Gold examples were submitted by e.g., Fattoria La Vialla in Italy, Bodega La Encina, Bodegas Borsao and Bodega Cuatro Rayas in Spain, Courelas da Torre in Portugal or Chateau Guofei Ruitaiqinglin in China, to name a few. For those interested in the northern wine countries: Here, the highest rated wines were submitted by Forster Winery, Gut Steyerberg and Bioweingut Mißbach (GER), as well as MERUM winery (AT) — all of them WINE SYSTEM Award regulars, who make good use of the sensory data sheets and the personal debriefings with the PAR® certified master jury. The detailed ranking with all sensory profiles ist available at winesystem.de/en/organic-wine-award/results/autumn-2024.

The question of style and the value of a thorough quality management

Martin Darting, head and trainer of the PAR® Certified Master Jury, has been watching the ORGANIC wine scene for decades, and this year in particular, he and his colleagues had brilliant examples of wines in their glasses, where a precisely managed oxidational style has lead to an enhancement of the wines overall quality. He explains it this way: „Quite often, when a strictly reductive style is being implemented, the wine loses a lot of its potential. For years this has been a major trend, but we’re witnessing a shift at the moment.“

Quality control and the multiple value of a PAR evaluation

Word has gotten around in the industry that PAR® Awards are much more than just a marketing tool. The insights gained from the jury’s detailed sensory data sheets are also being used for quality management, as indicated by the growing demand for the free de-briefings. In addition to adjustments in the vineyard – for example in terms of leaf management, humus input and biodiversity – vinification measures that have a positive effect on quality can also be seen in the current tasting. These include masterfully planned maceration times, precise sulphur additions, clever combinations of wood and steel ageing, and well-orchestrated cuvées. All of this has influence on the style, and can be of great help with the effects of climate change — with new, sometimes sensational results.

The highest scores per category

ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL

– Autumn 2024

Red wine:

• 2019 STEHKRAGEN Frühburgunder unfiltriert, trocken from Gut Steyerberg in the Nahe region, GER – 98 points, Grand Gold
• 2020 Herr Rossi – Cabernet Carol & Pinot Noir trocken from Bioweingut Mißbach in Baden, GER – 98 points, Grand Gold
• 2020 CABERNET – Reserve by Weingut MERUM at Neusiedlersee, AT – 98 points, Grand Gold

White wine:

• 2023 Cuatro Rayas Organic Verdejo by Bodega Cuatro Rayas, Rueda region, ES – 97 points, Grand Gold
• 2023 Stülb – Gewürztraminer from Stülb – Weingut & Sectmanufaktur, Mosel region, GER –

            97 points, Grand Gold

Sparkling wine:

• 2014 FURORE Sekt from Weingut Forster in the Nahe region, GER – 98 points, Grand Gold

Dessert wine:

• 2016 Vin Santo del Chianti Occhio di Pernice DOC by Fattoria La Vialla in Tuscany, IT –

            98 points, Grand Gold

Rosé wine:

• 2023 Württemberger Schillerwein QbA trocken from Lauffener Weingärtner eG, Württemberg, GER – 97 points, Grand Gold

Fortified wine:

• Justino’s Projects Tinta Negra BIO Reserve 5 Years Old by Justino’s Madeira Wines, Madeira region, PT – 96 points, Grand Gold

Further Grand-Gold-Organics come from China and New Zealand. Best by points from China is the 2022 Guofei Syrah Dry Red Wine by Chateau Guofei Ruitaiqinglin in the Xinjiang region with 97 points, and from New Zealand the 2024 Stoneleigh Organic Sauvignon Blanc by Pernod Ricard Winemakers in the Marlborough region with 97 points.

WINE SYSTEM – Trust your Senses stands for professionally sound quality assessments and Wine Awards since 1999, as well as for training in the field of wine and sensorics and consulting for wineries. In striving for quality, appreciation for people and craftsmanship is the company’s guiding star in all three business areas. The PAR® sensory testing system, with its analytical and strictly documentary approach, is both the working basis and the expression of this philosophy. It enables the PAR® Certified Master Jury in the WINE SYSTEM tastings to make valid, detailed and comprehensible assessments and provides the necessary expertise in training to understand, trace and predict sensory processes in their entirety. Thus, more and more winemakers use the informative tasting data from the awards for the qualitative development of their wines. WINE SYSTEM – Trust your Senses has been under the management of board members Brigitte Wüstinger and Martin Darting since 2019. The current awards are the ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL, the WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL and the PIWI WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL. www.winesystem.de/en