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German wines successful at 2008 MUNDUSvini Great International Wine Award
· International jury awards 1,664 medals
· Weingut Horst Sauer and Vier Jahreszeiten Winzer eG each win two Grand Gold medals
· Public tasting of winning wines on 22nd November
Neustadt/Weinstrasse, 28th September 2008
From 29th August to 7th September, 280 jurors from 44 countries met in Neustadt for the 8th MUNDUSvini Great International Wine Award, the most important international wine competition in Germany. With a record number of entries, namely 5,343 wines from 41 countries, the prestigious wine competition certainly lived up to its name again this year. The international tasters awarded medals to 1,664 of the wines entered for tasting and assessment – 24 Grand Gold, 450 Gold and 1,190 Silver. Summarising the competition’s upward development, Michael Hornickel, Board Member of MUNDUSvini and chief wine taster for the magazines weinwelt and Weinwirtschaft, said: “We see the annual increase in the number of entries as evidence of the confidence of the national and international wine trade.” In the same breath, however, he added: “But we are not primarily concerned with quantities. In the long term, our target is more a moderate rise so that the quality of the competition is maintained.”
27 per cent of medals went to wines from Germany
The wines produced by German vintners scored particularly well, with 15 wines boasting the highest award of Grand Gold, 147 receiving Gold and 290 Silver.
For the first time in the history of the competition, two German producers received two Grand Gold medals each. This highest of the awards went to both the 2007 Dürkheimer Hochmess Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese and the 2007 Dürkheimer Spielberg Riesling Auslese from Vier Jahreszeiten Winzer eG in the Palatinate and to the 2007 Escherndorfer Lump Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese and the 2007 Escherndorfer Lump Silvaner Trockenbeerenauslese from Weingut Horst Sauer in Franconia. What is more, the latter also received the special prize for the “Best Natural Sweet Wine of 2008”. The title of “German Producer of the Year” went – as last year – to the Wein- und Sektgut Heinz Schneider in Leiwen/Moselle, which won four Gold and three Silver medals for seven entries.
Two Grand Gold medals and the special prize for the “European Producer of the Year” were awarded to Champagnes P. & C. Heidsieck in France, while Shingleback Wine in Australia became the “Non-European Producer of the Year” for the best non-European results, winning four Gold and four Silver for nine entries.
In the medal ranking headed by Germany, the wine countries of Italy (272) and Spain (247) took second and third places, followed by France with 158, Australia with 85 and South Africa with 83. The very top wines from Germany were followed by wines from France and South Africa, which received three Grand Gold each. Italy won two Grand Gold medals and Austria boasted one Grand Gold.
A shower of medals for Palatinate vintners
Among German wine-growing areas, the Palatinate took the lead with 123 medals (eight Grand Gold, 44 Gold and 71 Silver). The front runners included Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl in Deidesheim and the Ruppertsberg Vintners’ Association Hoheburg eG. The “Best German Dry White Wine in 2008” also came from the Palatinate, notably the Grand Gold winner 2007 Hohenmorgen Deidesheim Riesling trocken from Weingut Geheimer Rat Dr. von Bassermann-Jordan.
Baden came second among the wine-growing areas of Germany, gaining 67 medals including two Gold and two Silver for Weingut Andreas Männle and three Gold and three Silver for the Oberkircher Winzergenossenschaft eG. Close on its heels was Württemberg with 64 medals, followed by Franconia with 62 and Moselle with 40 medals. Here particular success was enjoyed by the Franconian vineyard Juliusspital, the Güterverwaltung Stiftungsweingut Traben-Trarbach on the Moselle and the Central Rhine vineyard Friedrich Bastian Erbhof “Zum Grünen Baum”.
Public tasting of award-winning wines
The Saalbau in Neustadt/Weinstrasse will be opening its doors for a large-scale wine-tasting again from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, 22nd November 2008. Passionate wine lovers will then have the chance of playing the role of the jury and tasting the MUNDUSvini 2008 award-winning wines.
Admission costs 15 EUR per person and the proceeds of the tasting will all be donated to charity.
All the award-winning wines in the 2008 competition can be found on the internet at www.mundusvini.de.
About MUNDUSvini:
The MUNDUSvini Great International Wine Award is the largest officially recognised international wine award under the patronage of the Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV) for wines from all the wine-growing regions in the world. It was launched by the MUNDUSvini Wine Academy, a subsidiary of Meininger Verlag in Neustadt, in 2001 and has since been held annually.
Press Contact:
Berit Schönrock
Meininger Verlag
Maximilianstr. 7-17
67433 Neustadt/Weinstrasse
Germany
Phone: +49 (6321) 89 08-1910
Email: schoenrock@meininger.de