A Classy Premiere: The MUNDUS VINI NORDIC Prize Ceremony

09/16/2019

The Meininger Verlag and Deutsches Weininstitut (DWI) have crowned their champions from the new MUNDUS VINI NORDIC competition. The exclusive prize ceremony was held on September 10 at renowned Copenhagen wine sellers Kjær Sommerfeldt, to an audience of selected guests from the wine and fine dining industries.

Among the honorees were winemakers Franz Keller, Karl Haidle, Hans Wirsching, Harald and Jürgen Krebs, Oliver Zeter, Principal Castell's Domain, Hofmann, Stern, Witwe Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Müller-Burggraef and Forster and Meier. After a few words of greeting by Germany’s Deputy Ambassador Anke Meyer, the moderating team of Christian Wolf, Director of Degustation for Meininger Verlag, and German Wine Queen Carolin Klöckner took over the microphone. Thereafter the eleven different champions in the respective categories presented their wines to the invite-only audience of experts in a seated presentation.

“The tremendous positive reaction we've received from this competition, both from the standpoint of German wine producers and Scandinavian wine sellers, affirms for us our choice to establish the MUNDUS VINI NORDIC in this unique format as a platform to promote German wine exports to Scandinavia. Today's awards ceremony was truly a highlight of this first competition,” declared DWI Managing Director Monika Reule. The follow-on tasting of the winning wines gave the attending estates their chance to make a lasting impression on the invited guests. “Working with our agencies in the four Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, we intend to organize further activities for MUNDUS VINI NORDIC winners in the next couple years to reinforce the standing of German wines in Scandinavia for the long run,” Reule said.

Christoph Meininger, Managing Director Meininger Publishing House, also expressed satisfaction: “The attending winemakers were enthusiastic about the prize ceremony and tasting event that followed, which gave them the chance to connect firsthand with invited wine sellers and restaurants. The feedback from guests to winegrowers confirms our feeling that our work here with the Deutsches Weininstitut has established an ideal platform for raising the profile of German wines in the Scandinavian countries and making these wines an in-demand choice for consumers.”

Overview of the Competition

Scandinavia has grown into a key export destination for German wines, inspiring the Meininger Verlag to collaborate with the German Wine Institute (DWI) in June 2019 on a new wine competition called MUNDUS VINI NORDIC. What set this competition apart: the jurors were selected almost exclusively from Scandinavia itself, ensuring that the winning wines perfectly fit the sensibilities and expectations of the “Nordic palate.”

The most important wine experts from Scandinavian countries sat in June for a blind tasting of 660 German wines in the spectacular Skuespilhus theater in Copenhagen. MUNDUS VINI’s highly regarded assessment system was used. The panel of 53 jurors included Frederik Kreutzer (Denmark), Petteri Harjula (Finland), Steffen Riis Christiansen (Norway) and Anders Levander (Sweden).

100 wines were ultimately awarded gold medals by the jury, with an additional 164 silvers conveyed as well. An overall winner was also announced for each category. The presented wines came from all German winegrowing regions, with the greatest number submitted from the Pfalz, Rheinhessen and Baden. At almost 300 wines, Rieslings (in all taste profiles) were most prevalent, followed by Spätburgunder and Weißburgunder. Over half of the competition wines were from the 2018 vintage.

The Winners in the 11 Categories

Riesling trocken (dry)
2017 Riesling Steinwerk trocken
Weingut Meier, Weyher, Pfalz

Riesling halbtrocken (off-dry)
2017 Riesling feinherb
Weingut Forster, Rümmelsheim, Nahe

Riesling restsüß (naturally sweet)
2017 Berncasteler Doctor Riesling Kabinett
Weingut Witwe Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Müller-Burggraef KG, Bernkastel-Kues, Mosel

Grauburgunder trocken (dry)
2018 STERN Grauer Burgunder vom Lösslehm
Weingut Stern, Hochstadt, Pfalz

Weißburgunder trocken (dry)
2017 Eselpfad Weißer Burgunder trocken
Weingut Hofmann, Appenheim, Rheinhessen

Silvaner trocken (dry)
2017 Kugelspiel Silvaner trocken VDP.ERSTE LAGE
Fürstlich Castell'sches Domänenamt e. K., Castell, Franken

Aromatic white varieties dry
2017 Sauvignon Blanc Fumé trocken
Oliver Zeter, Neustadt-Haardt, Pfalz

White wines naturally sweet
2018 Iphöfer Kalb Gewürztraminer Spätlese VDP.ERSTE LAGE
Hans Wirsching KG, Iphofen, Franken

Spätburgunder trocken (dry)
2017 Gutswein Spätburgunder trocken
Weingut Harald und Jürgen Krebs GbR, Freinsheim, Pfalz

Lemberger trocken (dry)
2016 Stettener Mönchberg Gehrnhalde Lemberger GG VDP.GROSSE LAGE
Weingut Karl Haidle KG, Kernen, Württemberg

German Sekt (sparkling)
2015 Pinot Rosé Brut
Weingut Franz Keller, Vogtsburg-Oberbergen, Baden

About MUNDUS VINI

The first MUNDUS VINI was held 18 years ago and from the start was considered one of the world’s most influential wine competitions. Clear evidence of the importance of this competition in Germany and the broader world can be seen in the over 11,000 wines that are submitted each year. The competition employs the international 100-point system developed by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). The wine award is held in spring and late summer. The Meininger Verlag is the initiator of MUNDUS VINI Grand International Wine Award.

About the DWI

The Deutsches Weininstitut, known as the DWI or German Wine Institute in English, is the central communication and marketing organ for the German wine industry. Its core mission is the promotion of greater quality and higher sales for wines from the 13 German quality wine regions. This is achieved through PR and publicity work, awareness campaigns and events, participation in national and international trade fairs as well as wine presentations together with German producers from around the world. The DWI distributes informational brochures, newsletters, publications and advertising materials, conducts training sessions and seminars for restaurants and retailers and provides consulting for the wine industry in questions related to sales promotion domestically and abroad. The DWI maintains 14 different informational offices around the world to support German wines on key international export markets.

Press Contacts:

Meininger Verlag
Sigrid Eck
Agentur Hartmut Schultz Kommunikation
Office: +49 89 99 24 96
Mobile: +49 152 215 93 427
Email: se@schultz-kommunikation.com
Internet: www.meininger.de/de

Deutsches Weininstitut
Ernst Büscher
Phone: +49 6135 30 9323 -156
Email: ernst.buescher@deutscheweine.de
Internet: www.deutscheweine.de