The 14th year of the Winery of the Year competition starts with a new general partner

In addition to the partnership with the e-shop with wine and paintings The Art of Wine, the new feature is the adjustment of the volume of wine production in the category of large wineries. Wineries with a production of more than 200 thousand litres per year (in previous years 250 thousand litres/year) will now be classified as large. The category of medium-sized wineries will thus be changed to a volume of between 50 001 l/year and 200 000 l/year and the category of small wineries will remain at up to 50 000 l/year.

The new large wineries are already producing more than 200 thousand litres/year.

"We are constantly trying to improve the competition and make it more attractive not only for the wine lovers who follow it, but of course also for the winemakers who participate. That is why this year we have reduced the wine production limit for large wineries. This has opened up the opportunity for more operators to enter this category and has increased competition in a healthy way. On the other hand, the adjustment of the evaluation system to three levels, which we introduced in the previous 13th edition and which has proved very successful, remains unchanged. In the first round, the evaluation will again be carried out by the Junior Jury composed of students from the Faculty of Horticulture at Mendel University in Brno. In this way, we have connected the competition with the younger generation, with future winemakers and representatives of our industry. This will be followed by the evaluation of the Senior Jury and in the final by the expert committee," says the President of the Union of Winegrowers of the Czech Republic, PhDr. "This year, the whole competition will be held in the spirit of combining wine and art, which have much in common. Winemaking is a craft, but it is also an art. The wine that is produced is an artefact of sorts, and therefore also art. Each winemaker gives something of himself to his work, so we can talk about certain artistic styles, etc. And it is exactly these ideas that our new general partner, the Art of Wine, represents."

The new Art of Wine partner

The main idea of the competition remains the same and only wineries that contribute to the to the entire industry and moves Moravian and Czech winemaking forward, not only in the long term, but also significantly to the year.

"Winery of the Year is a very prestigious project where not only the quality of the wine matters, but the overall concept of the winery and the approach to the industry as such. Our long-term goal is to present winemaking as a craft that can be as valuable to people as art if they want to understand it. It is also about talent, lots of failed attempts, individual style and passion. All this is then blended into a final product that leaves an impression on its consumer with its packaging, interior and story. These are the values we share with the competition, and that's why we are very happy to be a part of it. We can then offer winemakers a very interesting collaboration in the sale of wine, in addition to linking it with the art ofm, which makes an ideal pair with wine," said Jozef Cerovský, Managing Director of Umění vína.

Three steps of evaluation

The evaluation of the Winery of the Year 2023 and Art of Wine competition itself is divided into three steps, just like last year.

1. Firstly, the evaluation will be carried out by a "Junior Jury", consisting of 3 persons trained in academia, i.e. the university of the field, on site at the participating wineries. They will add technical parameters and objective criteria to the evaluation form and at the same time take video footagel from the three areas (cellar management, vineyard management, sales and marketing), which will serve as the basis for the 'Senior Jury'.
2. "The'Senior Jury' is made up of nine qualified experts (three each from viticulture, cellar management and marketing and trade) and, inin the second step of the evaluation, they will also fill in an evaluation form based on the information from the previous step and their own investigation. The sum of the scores from the two steps and the forms is then used to determine the ranking, thus narrowing the number of nominees down to the final nine - 3 small wineries (up to 50.000 litres/year), 3 medium (50,001 - 200,000 litres/year) and 3 large wineries (over 200,000 litres/year).
3. In the final third step, a seven-member expert committee will judge the wineries directlyThe wineries will be judged by a panel of expert judges to determine the extent to which the finalists meet the competition criteria and will finally decide on the winners.

The whole evaluation process will be completed on 25 June 2011. January, when the winners in the three competition categories and the absolute winner of the Winery of the Year 2023 and the Art of Wine will be announced at the Brno Observatory and Planetarium. However, other awards will also be given - Enologist of the Year, the award for a young winemaker, enologist with age limit up to 40 years, the Act of the Year - for a personality or institution that has contributed to the elevation of the field of viticulture and winemaking in the Czech Republic, the Prof. Vilém Kraus, CSc. - for an important wine personality for his/her lifetime contribution to the field of viticulture or viticulture, and the MENDELU Faculty of Horticulture Students' Award - awarded to selectedto the winery by a panel of students and academic staff, consisting of persons entrusted with the evaluation of the first step on the basis of their visits to the winery. This award is mainly to strengthen the motivation of students to participate in the prestigious competition and also to strengthen the link between academia and practice. The gala evening will again be moderated by Mr Marek Eben.

Previous winners

The winners of the Winery of the Year title in the past were the winery Škrobák, Víno J. Stávek, Vinselekt Michlovský, Bohemia Sekt, Hana Mádlová, Znovín Znojmo, Château Valtice - Vinné sklepy Valtice, Zámecké Bzenec winery, Vican family winery, Reisten, Sonberk winery twice and last year the winery of Jindřich Kadrnka.

The competition is announced and the title "Winery of the Year" is awarded by the Union of Winemakers of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the National Wine Centre, with significant support from the Wine Fund of the Czech Republic and the South Moravian Region. The event is organized under the auspices of the Governor Mgr. The general and titular partner is now the Art of Wine. The competition is also supported by the Brno Observatory and Planetarium and the Faculty of Horticulture of Mendel University in Brno.

Important dates:

• 14 August 2023 - announcement of the competition for the title of Winery of the Year and Art of Wine 2023
• 1 September - 9 October 2023 - management of visits, inspection of the entered wineries / "Junior Jury"
• 11 September 2023 - Closing date for entries and nominations
• 9 - 16 October 2023 - evaluation, preparation of documents for the "Senior Jury", preparation of videos
• 18 - 31 October 2023 - evaluation of the "Senior Jury"
• 1 November 2023 - announcement of the final nine
• 26-29 November 2023 - evaluation of the finalists by the expert jury
• 25 January 2024 - award ceremony hosted by Mark Eben

The organiser reserves the right to make changes to the dates and nature of the programme.

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