Results of the 2026 Rose Wine Competition - by Winelover Romania & Vinul.ro
On May 14, 2026, the 14th edition of the Rose Wine Competition took place, which this year was organized by the Winelover Romania Association together with Vinul.ro.
I was happy to be part of the jury of this competition again this time and today I come with news about the results, as well as news related to this year's edition.
The rosé wine competition has been organized for 14 years in May at the initiative of Răzvan Stoenescu - Winelover Romania Association and aims to discover which are the rosé wines of the coming summer. Only fresh rosé wines from the previous harvest year were entered in the competition and, until last year, the competition had only 2 sections: dry non-aromatic wines and dry aromatic wines.
This year the competition grew, it got an upgrade so to speak: it was organized in collaboration with Vinul.ro, the organizer of the Vinul.ro Excellence Awards, and opened the possibility for wineries to enter not only dry wines (from aromatic or non-aromatic varieties), but also semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet wines, as well as sparkling wines.
Thus, the premieres of the 2026 Rosé Wine Competition were:
I was happy to be part of the jury of this competition again this time and today I come with news about the results, as well as news related to this year's edition.
The rosé wine competition has been organized for 14 years in May at the initiative of Răzvan Stoenescu - Winelover Romania Association and aims to discover which are the rosé wines of the coming summer. Only fresh rosé wines from the previous harvest year were entered in the competition and, until last year, the competition had only 2 sections: dry non-aromatic wines and dry aromatic wines.
This year the competition grew, it got an upgrade so to speak: it was organized in collaboration with Vinul.ro, the organizer of the Vinul.ro Excellence Awards, and opened the possibility for wineries to enter not only dry wines (from aromatic or non-aromatic varieties), but also semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet wines, as well as sparkling wines.
Thus, the premieres of the 2026 Rosé Wine Competition were:
- The competition included several categories of wines that could be entered (dry wines from non-aromatic varieties, dry wines from aromatic varieties, semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet wines, as well as sparkling wines).
- Registration for the competition was carried out on a fee basis
- The first selection of wines was made by the producers themselves who entered only those wines that they considered could be judged by a professional jury and obtain medals
- In addition to the title of 1st Place at the "Rosé Wine Competition 2026 - non-aromatic wines section" and "Rosé Wine Competition 2026 - aromatic wines section", the wines rated with the highest scores also obtained the Great Gold Medal - the Vinul.ro Excellence Awards (1 Medal), as well as 15 Gold Medals - Vinul.ro Excellence Awards
- also, there were 5 category winners: dry aromatic/unaromatic, semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet (not awarded this year), and sparkling.
The collaboration between Winelover Romania and Vinul.ro has brought major changes in the organization of the Rosé Wine Competition, with more wines being awarded medals depending on the scores obtained.
I spoke with Cezar Ioan - organizer of a long-standing wine competition - Vinul.ro Excellence Awards have been organized for 18 years - and asked him what this collaboration and development of the Rosé Wine Competition means to him, as well as how he thinks the end consumer will react to this. Here is what he told me:
I spoke with Cezar Ioan - organizer of a long-standing wine competition - Vinul.ro Excellence Awards have been organized for 18 years - and asked him what this collaboration and development of the Rosé Wine Competition means to him, as well as how he thinks the end consumer will react to this. Here is what he told me:
"For me, it's an important development: even though I personally rarely consume wines with residual sugar, I have many friends - "serious" consumers, at the level of 6-7 bottles / family / week, who are not just looking for cheap wines - whom our wine industry ignores or, worse, even despises.
If you don't believe me, go to any fancy wine fair and ask to taste a semi-dry or a semi-sweet and you'll see what "education" you get from the sommelier or the winery representative (I'm not generalizing). With these friends having to look for good wines with residual sugar on foreign websites, I think I've evolved too and realized that they constitute a category too important to be ignored. I've been discussing this with Răzvan Stoenescu for many years, I think before the pandemic, and he was telling me that he was outdoing him, that he didn't have the resources to organize something like that anymore. It's true, in the model he initiated for the rosé competition it would have been impossible: there, the wine tasting took place over several months, with successive preselections and with very large human and financial efforts. Being a competition without an evaluation fee, the wineries entered everything they had in tanks. Now, however, with the online scoring system, it's easier. And it's also easier because once the evaluation tax is introduced, wineries are more selective and no longer send just any wine, but those that they think have a chance - well, it would be good if they sent more with residual sugar, because that's where most of the consumption is, as all market research shows.
As for the medals, traditionally Winelover Association only awards that medal to a single wine (dry, from a non-aromatic variety), so the addition we made - namely to award medals to all wines that meet the criteria of the Vinul.ro Excellence Awards (scoring thresholds and the limit of 1/3 of the total samples entered) - I believe is likely to provide visibility to more wines and increase the notoriety and prestige of the category. More rosé wines, of more types, will bear the marks of quality, which is likely to increase consumer confidence." Cezar Ioan - Vinul.ro
If you don't believe me, go to any fancy wine fair and ask to taste a semi-dry or a semi-sweet and you'll see what "education" you get from the sommelier or the winery representative (I'm not generalizing). With these friends having to look for good wines with residual sugar on foreign websites, I think I've evolved too and realized that they constitute a category too important to be ignored. I've been discussing this with Răzvan Stoenescu for many years, I think before the pandemic, and he was telling me that he was outdoing him, that he didn't have the resources to organize something like that anymore. It's true, in the model he initiated for the rosé competition it would have been impossible: there, the wine tasting took place over several months, with successive preselections and with very large human and financial efforts. Being a competition without an evaluation fee, the wineries entered everything they had in tanks. Now, however, with the online scoring system, it's easier. And it's also easier because once the evaluation tax is introduced, wineries are more selective and no longer send just any wine, but those that they think have a chance - well, it would be good if they sent more with residual sugar, because that's where most of the consumption is, as all market research shows.
As for the medals, traditionally Winelover Association only awards that medal to a single wine (dry, from a non-aromatic variety), so the addition we made - namely to award medals to all wines that meet the criteria of the Vinul.ro Excellence Awards (scoring thresholds and the limit of 1/3 of the total samples entered) - I believe is likely to provide visibility to more wines and increase the notoriety and prestige of the category. More rosé wines, of more types, will bear the marks of quality, which is likely to increase consumer confidence." Cezar Ioan - Vinul.ro
Now it's time to find out what the wines of summer 2026 are:
Winner of the dry wines section from non-aromatic varieties – category awarded by Winelover Romania Association with stickers highlighting the category win and a voucher for Da Bacco products: 2 Milenii 2025, Crama Liuta (Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon)
Winner of the dry aromatic wines section: C’Est Soir 2025, Crama Hermeziu (Busuioacă de Bohotin)
Winner of the semi-dry wine section – 2 wines in a perfect tie:
Winner of the dry wines section from non-aromatic varieties – category awarded by Winelover Romania Association with stickers highlighting the category win and a voucher for Da Bacco products: 2 Milenii 2025, Crama Liuta (Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon)
Winner of the dry aromatic wines section: C’Est Soir 2025, Crama Hermeziu (Busuioacă de Bohotin)
Winner of the semi-dry wine section – 2 wines in a perfect tie:
- Pământuri 2025 semi -dry, Crama Olterra (Rară neagră, Busuioacă de Bohotin, Fetească neagră)
- Motiv 2025, Crama Ceptura (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot)
Winner of the semi-sweet wine section: Pământuri 2025 semi-sweet, Crama Olterra (Rară neagră, Busuioacă de Bohotin, Fetească neagră)
Sweet Wine Section Winner: not awarded
Winner of the sparkling wine section: Briant Brut, Domeniile Averești (Pinot Noir)
Great Gold Medal: 2 Milenii rose 2025, Crama Liuta
Gold Medals - dry wines:
Sweet Wine Section Winner: not awarded
Winner of the sparkling wine section: Briant Brut, Domeniile Averești (Pinot Noir)
Great Gold Medal: 2 Milenii rose 2025, Crama Liuta
Gold Medals - dry wines:
- Luturi 2025, Crama Olterra (Merlot, Negru de Drăgășani)
- Magnus Monte 2025, Crama Ceptura (Cabernet Sauvignon)
- Manuscris 2025, Via Viticola Sarica Niculițel (Rară neagră)
- Caii de la Letea Volumul I 2025, Via Viticola Sarica Niculițel
- Motiv 2025, Crama Ceptura (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot)
- Caii de la Letea Princeps 2025, Via Viticola Sarica Niculițel (Fetească neagră, Pinot Noir, Syrah)
- C’Est Soir 2025, Crama Hermeziu
- Cuvee Experience 2025, Domeniul Bogdan (Merlot, Pinot Noir)
- Reveria 2025, Strunga Winery (Fetească neagră)
Gold Medals - semi-dry wines:
- Arida Roza de Babadag 2025 demisec, Crama Liuta (Cabernet Sauvignon)
- Pământuri 2025 demisec, Crama Olterra (Rară neagră, Busuioacă de Bohotin, Fetească neagră)
- Pandora Stories 2025 demisec, Crama Pandora (Pinot Noir)
- Cervus 2025 demisec, Crama Ceptura
Gold Medals - semi-sweet wines:
- Pământuri 2025 demidulce, Crama Olterra (Rară neagră, Busuioacă de Bohotin, Fetească neagră)
- Busuioacă de Averești 2025 demidulce, Domeniile Averești
The wines were judged by 2 committees consisting of 8 professionals from the world of wine, the 2 committees being led by Prof. Univ. Dr. Arina Antoce and Liviu Gheorghe.
More details about the judging process and competition can be found in this article.
The event was organized with the suppor of:
Sponsors: Dagmar, Da Bacco
Partners: Vinul.ro, IPPU Packaging
Host: Restaurant La Mama - Clubul Țăranului Roman
I wish you a great summer!
Carmina Nițescu
Winesday.ro & Winesday App
More details about the judging process and competition can be found in this article.
The event was organized with the suppor of:
Sponsors: Dagmar, Da Bacco
Partners: Vinul.ro, IPPU Packaging
Host: Restaurant La Mama - Clubul Țăranului Roman
I wish you a great summer!
Carmina Nițescu
Winesday.ro & Winesday App
