After several months of preparation, the 25th VinAgora International Wine Competition went smoothly and without problems once again this year. This year's competition was special in several ways, including the quality of wines, i.e. the extremely strong line-up, the composition of the jury and the exceptional atmosphere, thanks to the celebration of a quarter of a century of jubilee. The 25 years of experience may seem routine in the hands of the organisers, but the constant renewal and following of trends gives fresh impulse to their work year after year
Our country's wine competition represents quality in every aspect, meeting international standards. In addition to precise and accurate preparation, an innovative technological background is essential to maintain the high quality of VinAgora. The reliability, complexity and accuracy of the WineCompass wine judging software developed by Borkult play a key role in the credibility of the results. By judging on tablets, the jury is freed from any paper-based administration, allowing for easy, accurate and fast identification, analysis and evaluation of the wine. Thanks to continuous development, the latest, more user-friendly version of the software was used by the jury this year. The system collected and averaged the individual scores of the wines and then summarised the scores instantly and without error.
All wine competitions are undoubtedly important and essential for the development of the wine sector, but it is worth noting that the rules of the competitions are designed according to different criteria. The VinAgora is based on the 100-point positive judging system recommended by the Federation of Major International Wine Competitions (VinoFed), making it the only internationally accredited wine competition in our country.
Every wine poured at VinAgora was the fruit of the commitment and dedication of renowned winemakers from home and abroad. To ensure that this was done without a flaw, the 6-member committees were assisted by experienced coordinators who helped to prepare the samples accordingly. Opening the wines, constantly monitoring their temperature, checking the numbers, aerating the red wines, putting the bottles in black bags, directing the waiters and communicating with the committee chairmen were all the responsibility of the coordinators and were an integral part of the behind-the-scenes work of the competition.
This year's medal-winning wines were selected from an exceptionally strong line-up. Due to the medal rules, only 30% of the nominated samples can be awarded a Grand Gold, Gold or Silver medal, but the distribution of these medals is determined by the final scores. This year, the final scoring limits had to be set exceptionally high, which meant that the number of gold medal wines increased dramatically, which also meant that the number of silver medals decreased significantly compared to last year's results.
Remarkably, there were no silver medals at all in the category of still red wines, but the number of gold medals grew in inverse proportion, with one third of the wines in this category finishing on top of the podium.
About the wine competition in a nutshell
The wine tasting sequences and the order of tasting is decided well in advance of the competition, after the closing of entries. The sorting of the wine series should be based on colour, character and sugar content, with 10 to 12 wines per series, and within each series, the vintage, barrel ageing intensity and aroma intensity should be taken into account.
The judging panels will carry out a trial judging before the first sample is evaluated. The so-called "mise-en-bouche" is scored in an open way in order to achieve a balanced judging standard during the competition.
Wine preparation takes place in a separate room, completely separated from the judging, preventing any disruption to the competition and preserving the complete anonymity of the wines. The committees work in another room where only those involved in the tasting are allowed to be present. It's not a small task to concentrate all the senses on 33-35 wines a day, so the judges take a short break after the tasting rounds.
Once the scores on the evaluation form have been added together, any score that is more than 5 points below the average will not be included in the final score, due to the distorting effect of significant differences. In the event of a technical dispute between the members of the committees during the evaluation, the chairman of the committee will settle the dispute in a constructive discussion.
Let's see the results
Hundreds of samples were waiting to be poured to glasses to win the judges' approval. 877 wines from 14 different countries entered the competition, three quarters of which came from our country. The gold medals were distributed in the same proportion, with 25% of them going to foreign wines.
The high quality of the field is reflected in the large number of gold medals awarded compared to the total number of medals. This year, the judges rated 23% of the entered wines as gold and only 6% as silver.
According to the finalised scoring limits, 53 silver, 203 gold, 9 grand-gold and 7 champion medals were awarded to the top 30% in accordance with the medal allocation rules. A number of special prizes were also awarded based on the results of the wines.
First, the best wines in the different main categories, the Champion award winners:
- Still white wines category: J. García Carrión - Pata Negra Rueda Sauvignon Blanc - Verdejo Edicion Especial 2023
- Still rosés category: Font Pincészet - Font Cabernet Sauvignon rosé 2023
- Still red category: Garai Pincészet - Täuninger Cabernet sauvignon, 2020
- Sparkling wines category: Szentpéteri Borpince - Chardonnay Méthode Traditionelle Blanc de Blancs Brut Sparkling Wine 2021
- Natural sweet wine specialities category: Hangavári Borászat - Tokaji Furmint late harvested, 2021
- Botrytis category: Babits Borászat - Babits Tokaji 6 puttonyos Aszú 2019
- Semi-sparkling wines category: Gál Szőlőbirtok és Pincészet - Jóbarát gyöngyözőbor, 2023
The Champion winners are chosen only from the dry wines in the white, rosé and red categories, and only from the traditional brut wines in the sparkling wine category. The chairmen of the judging panels select the Champion Winners from the lots that have won at least a gold medal, including the 5 highest scores, by blind tasting in parallel. It is a great pleasure to announce the Champion Award in the semi-sparkling wine category again this year, since 2022, as the pinnacle of a superb, fresh and lively wine speciality.
If at least 15 Hungarian samples of a given variety are submitted, the wine with the highest number of points within the variety will be awarded the special prize for the best Hungarian varietal wine, certified by a special certificate. Only varietal wines for which the technology does not override the varietal character can compete (for example, a Merlot rosé can win the special prize, but not a Furmint aszú or a Pinot noir sparkling wine).
This year's best Hungarian varietal wines:
- Cabernet Franc: Stier Pincészet - Villányi Franc Super Premium 2019
- Kékfrankos: Vylyan Pincészet - Kékfrankos 2022
- Irsai Olivér: Gál Szőlőbirtok és Pincészet - Gál Irsai Olivér 2023
- Cabernet sauvignon: Garai Pincészet - Täuninger Cabernet sauvignon, 2020
- Olaszrizling: Herold Pince - Liebling Olaszrizling, 2020
- Chardonnay: Herold Pince - Saci Chardonnay 2023
- Merlot: Herold Pince - Vinori Merlot 2019
- Riesling: Palik Pincészet - Rajnai Rizling 2022
- Sauvignon blanc: Szöllősi Pincészet - Sauvignon blanc 2023
- Syrah: Maul Zsolt Prémium Winery - Démon 2020
- Furmint: Grand Tokaj Borászat - Terroir Selection Szarvas Furmint 2021
- Pinot Noir: Pannonhalmi Főapátság Pincészet - Pinot Noir 2022
If at least 15 samples are received from a foreign country, the highest scoring wine from the nominated samples will receive a special prize (Best of Country), which this year goes to the following wines:
- Best of Australia: Wakefield Taylors Wines – St Andrews Chardonnay 2022
- Best of Brazil: Don Guerino – Monteolivo 2023
- Best of France: Mas du Novi - Le Chemin de No(s) Vi(es) 2019
- Best of Italy: Cantine Torrevento - Primaronda Castel del Monte DOC Rosato 2023
- Best of Slovakia: Pivnica Čebovce - Müller Thurgau neskorý zber 2023
- Best of Spain: J. García Carrión - Pata Negra Rueda Sauvignon Blanc - Verdejo Edicion Especial 2023
Several special prizes were awarded at the 25th anniversary VinAgora International Wine Competition:
- Csonka és Fiai Ltd. for the the special prize for the "Most Successful Family Winery":
Herold Pince (Pannonhalmi wine region) - Special prize for the "Most successful young winemaker" from the Hovány Group:
Rappay József, Schieber Borászat (Szekszárd wine region) - Special prize of Vince Magazine for the "Discoverer of VinAgora":
Ifj. Hörcsik Richárd, Tokaj-Portius Borászat (Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region) - Chef Market's special prize for the "Most worthy wine from environmentally friendly production":
Riczu Bor- és Vendégház - Villányi Franc 2019 (Villány wine region) - Special prize of Amorim Cork Hungary Zrt. for two "Wineries committed to cork sealing":
Fritz Borbirtok (Szekszárd wine region)
Royal Tokaji Borászati Zrt. (Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region) - Special prize of Bóna Labels for the "Most creative and expressive bottle":
Pannonhalmi Főapátság Pincészet - Hemina fehér 2021 (Pannonhalmi wine region)
The Prix VINOFED is awarded in four categories - still, dry white, red, rosé and brut sparkling wines - by the World Federation of Wine and Spirit Competitions, according to the same rules for all member competitions. The selection procedure is the same as for the VinAgora Champion selection, so that the Champion wines in these four categories automatically receive the special VINOFED prize.
- Prix VINOFED - a still, dry white wine:
J. García Carrión – Pata Negra Rueda Sauvignon Blanc, Verdejo Edicion Especial 2023 - Prix VINOFED - still, dry red wine:
Garai Pincészet – Täuninger Cabernet sauvignon 2020 - Prix VINOFED - still, dry rosé:
Font Pincészet - Cabernet Sauvignon rosé 2023 - Prix VINOFED - brut sparkling wine made with the classic method:
Szentpéteri Borpince – Chardonnay Methode Traditionelle Blanc de Blancs Brut Pezsgő 2021
To whom we owe thanks
The wine competition was hosted at the Budapest Congress Center, where the judging took place in the usual comfortable and ideal environment. A detailed report of the results is available in the VinAgora section of the June issue of Vince Magazine. In addition to supporting the competition, Amorim Cork Hungary will provide 1000 corks to two wineries of its choice. The judges were able to neutralise their senses while judging the wines with naturally pure Szigetközi mineral water, courtesy of Chef Market, and the group also offered a special prize. Csonkagroup contributed to the unbroken success of the wine glasses with their high quality, lead-free crystal glass glasses, and also offered a special prize. The cleanliness of the glasses was guaranteed by Miele, the catering dishwasher specialist. The Hovány Group provided a comfortable minibus with all the extras for the personal delivery of the special prizes to the organisers of the wine competition, and also donated a special prize. A new sponsor of VinAgora is Bóna Labels, a manufacturer of exclusive labels, which also awarded a special prize to a winery.
The students of the Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences, among others, contributed to the proper preparation of the wines with their conscientious work, while the students of the Soós István Wine-growing Technical and Training School ensured their professional serving. Fernando Gurucharri (VinoFED) and Emeline Zufferey (OIV) from the two professional organisations that provided the patronage, carried out the technical inspection of the competition and found everything to be in perfect order.
