Lots of nature and quality craftmanship: the second part of the organic wine tasting impresses the PAR® Jury by the high average quality and more remarkable courage on terroir.
Frasdorf, October 2021 – With a new uniformly named international name and brand image, the fourteenth ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL ran the tasting on October 1st – 04th, 2021. For the first time since the pandemic outbreak, the PAR® Jury could partly get together for an attended event. Accompanied by PAR® Certified Master colleagues based in the reliable virtual Tasting Room *), the Jury assessed 304 organic wines from 19 different countries. Twenty-six products were honoured with Top Gold, 155 wines received Gold, and 110 were decorated with Silver. Compliments went to the other 12 products. Summarising Spring and Autumn Tasting of this year's edition of the renowned contest, a new record of 1.116 organic wines from 21 countries was achieved, continuing previous years' success.
Germany took the most vital position in terms of the number of participants submitting 101 wines, followed by Austria, Italy and Spain. As measured by Top Gold awards, Germany could take nine out of 26 ones ensuring the leading position, followed by Austria with six medals, Italy and Spain with three each. Likewise, organic wines from Australia, Argentina, Denmark, France and Portugal were among the winners.
Italy's organic winemakers achieve 3 times Grand Gold, 22 times Gold, 18 times Silver and one recommendation
Italy's overall winners of the 2021 Autumn Tasting both fall into the red wine category and score 97 points, thus Great Gold: the 2017 Reciso from the Tuscan winery Beconcini, a natural wine from the Sangiovese grape and traditional cement barrel ageing, as well as the 2020 MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO DOC from Az. Agr. Jasci & Marchesani, stylistically modern aged in steel tank and barrique.
The best-placed Italian white wine in the ranking comes from the Piedmontese Azienda Vitivinicola La Zerba S.R.L- Società Agricola. 2020 Garvi Anfora from organically grown Cortese grapes.
Italy's top-ranked rosé, and at the same time the overall international winner in this category, with 95 points and a gold medal, is the 2020 RoséMarie from the Tröpfltalhof in South Tyrol - made from Merlot and Cabernet grapes traditionally fermented in the Qvevri.
High Overall Standard and „Lots of Quality Craftmanship“
The overall picture of this year Autumn edition of the ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL (formerly known as the international organic wine award) was characterised by the high average level. Around 59 per cent of the submitted organic wines achieved ratings in the Gold, and even Top Gold, range. This figure is nine percentage points higher than the results of the Spring Tasting. At the same time, only one product was reported to be faulty.
Furthermore, there was not only a quantitative increase in the natural wine segment; the positions were also convincing in terms of quality: of 26 natural wines submitted, 4 achieved Grand Gold and 15 a Gold Medal. Tasting director and WINE SYSTEM board member Martin Darting: "The spectrum of natural wines is becoming more and more exciting. It is clearly visible how producers are gaining in know-how and experience. At the same time, there are neither standards nor varietal typicities here; the styles are so different. An outstanding example in terms of craftsmanship, besides the top performers from Italy, is, for example, the 2020 Silvaner - ORANGE from the biodynamic vineyard Brüder Dr. Becker on the Rhine from wood and barrique ageing".
WINE SYSTEM Board Member Brigitte Wüstinger continues: „Also, in terms of terroir, it happens a lot in the organic wine scene. Stunning results have been achieved by finely tuned maceration and high enzyme activity at excellent sanitary standards as well as reasonable SO2 injection. A perfect example is, for instance, the reductively made 2021 Stoneleigh Organic Sauvignon Blanc coming from Pernod Ricard Winemakers located at the New Zealand wine region Marlborough that achieved Gold with 94 points.“
Differentiated and Transparent Assessment, Even If It Gets Tricky
To cope with the stylistic diversity of the international organic wine scene, the PAR® Certified Master Jury has long been working with oenological parameters like oxidation and reduction, tradition and modernity, along with mainstream categories like red or white wine. Likewise, there are stylistic subcategories like natural wine, terroir wine, extract – emphasised wine comprised by filtering the ranking results online.
Supplementary Information
| *) During the hybrid tasting in autumn 2021, a part of the jury operated virtually. The submitted wines were classified in the climatic, stylistic and analytic parameters. The wines were anonymised and numbered before being unpacked and presented to the jury in the determined order. In compliance with the PAR® method, the auditors operate in a crew of two. At the first step, each wine is tasted separately. A discussion follows this process. Once a consensus is reached, the results are thoroughly documented. |
Background Information:
The WINE SYSTEM AG With its three fields of activity Consulting, Education and PAR® high-quality contests has been a competent partner for winegrowers, retailers and the specialist public in the field of wine and sensory analysis since 1999. Since 2019, the company has been under the management of board members Brigitte Wüstinger and Martin Darting and has been organising renowned wine quality competitions for many years - including the ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL, the PAR® WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL, the PiGUNDY WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL, the International PIWI Wine Award and many smaller competitions. The WINE SYSTEM database with over 40,000 wines is the basis for the PAR® rating system developed by Martin Darting. It is appreciated in the professional world as a comprehensive information portal and serves as an important tool in many areas. www.winesystem.de
Assessment with PAR®: Thanks to the transparency of the internationally recognized sensory testing system PAR, each submitted organic wine receives replicable and objective documentation of its sensory and oenological characteristics, respectively its authenticity, origin, and style. The PAR® training enables the qualified jury consisting of „PAR® Certified Masters“, for the most part, oenologists, sommeliers verified by the CCI and appropriately qualified wine experts to assess each wine neutrally, excluding personal preferences or preconceived opinions regarding “good taste.” In contemporary oenology, new international styles, likewise the traditionally made wines, experience appreciation and acceptance. The reproducible and differentiated methodology underlying the tasting provides the added value brought by this contest to the participants, far exceeding the pure marketing benefits. The detailed PAR® evaluation sheet is a proof instrument for quality management of wine-growing production.
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