ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL - the results of the autumn 2021 tasting edition
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 fourthteenth 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 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.
Frontrunners from Germany, Denmark, Spain and Italy
Three overall winners of the Autumn Tasting won 98 points each: In the category of red wine, the traditionally matured in a wooden barrel and barrique 2017 Mauchen Pinot Noir "Old Vines at vineyard Lämmlin-Schindler located in Baden, Germany. Two wines shared the winner's rostrum in the category of whites: the 2019 White Burgundy 'Hohe Setz - coming from Franconian organic vineyard Zang, traditionally spontaneously fermented in Tonneau barrel, and reductively matured in steel tank and barrique 2020 Mauchen sun piece Pinot gris, likewise by Lämmlin-Schindler.
The winner among the sweet wines was the 2018 RÖS Solaris Vintage from the estate Dyrehøj Vingård located in the Danish Lake region - a traditionally barrique matured PIWI.
The top position in the category of sparkling wines, at the same time attributing to natural wines, went to 2019 Cava Bruant Brut Nature at Bodegas Celler de les Aus from the Spanish region Cava decorated with 96 points. The unsulphurated natural wine is produced from the Pansa-Blanca grapes by maturing in the concrete barrel and traditional bottle fermentation.
The best Rosé representative of this year Autumn tasting was the 95 points decorated Gold medallist 2020 RoséMariea Qvevri blend of Merlot and Cabernet grapes produced at the estate Tröpfltalhof, South Tyrol.
Winners from France, Portugal, Australia and Argentina
Further Top Gold awards went to 2019 Les Vieux Ceps de Raymond AOP Côtes du Rhône Villages Vaison la Romaine traditionally produced in a concrete barrel at Domaine Fond Croze from Rhônetal, pressed from Carignan grapes, as well as the 2020 Angove Organic Shiraz by Angove Family Winemakers South Australia, made in steel tank and barrique and earning 96 points. The 2020 Finca Los Cedros Organic Malbec achieved the same amount of points coming from the Chakana Estate based in the Argentinian region of Lujan de Cuyo. This wine was spontaneously fermented in a steel tank and wooden barrel;And the blend of Touriga Nacional and Syrah, spontaneous fermentation in a steel tank called 2020 ART.TERRA Organic coming from Casa Relvas located in Portuguese region Alentejo. All of them represented the category of red wines.
High Overall Standard and Lots of Quality Craftmanship
The overall picture of this year's 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.
Moreover, natural wine could convince not only by the quantitative increase but also by its quality. Among 26 submitted natural wines, four products received 4 Top Gold and fifteen Gold medals. Head of Tasting and Board Member of WINE SYSTEM Martin Darting: "The gamut of natural wines is getting more and more exciting. It is plainly evident how the producers are gaining experience. Yet, there are neither standards nor varietal typicity; the styles differ so much. Two technically striking examples are the 2017Reciso coming from the Tuscan estate Beconcini, a Sangiovese made by the traditional maturation in a concrete barrel or the 2020 Silvaner - ORANGE produced in wooden and barrique barrels at the biodynamic vineyard Brothers Dr. Becker , on the Rhine".
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:
WINE SYSTEM - Trust your Senses with its activity area in consulting, training and PAR® high-quality contests is a capable partner for winegrowers, retail and expert audience in the fields of wine and sensors since 1999. WINE SYSTEM AG operates under the leadership of both board members Brigitte Wüstinger and Martin Darting since 2019. Since many years, the company organises well-known high-quality contests, for instance, ORGANIC WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL, PAR® WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL, PiGUNDY WINE AWARD INTERNATIONAL, International PIWI Wine Award, as well as other smaller events. The database that contains more than 40,000 listed wines became a global information tool highly appreciated among experts.
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.
|
Contact WINE SYSTEM AG |
Press contact WINE SYSTEM AG |