Vinul.ro Excellence Awards 2022 (XIV edition)

As every year for the past 14 years, autumn brings a new edition of the Vinul.ro Excellence Awards.

For the second year in a row, I had the pleasure of being part of the jury that analyzed the more than 150 wines entered in the competition (all wines were served in blind, so the Jury didn’t know which wines are and from which wineries; we only knew the grapes from which the wines were obtained and the vintage). Like last year, it was a special experience because I had the opportunity to see dear people again, but also to meet new people from the world of wine and at the same time to try wines that I did not know.

After 1 year from the first experience of this type and after several competitions in which I participated in the Jury, I saw things differently this time. It could be the experience gained along the way, the information gained from a new wine course - WSET Level 3 - or both, but this time it seems I analyzed the wines in more detail and looked for the flavors a bit more carefully (not to say ...I was quite strict in assigning grades). In addition, this time the individual grades of the jurors were recorded online by phone in a centralized system (the traditional paper and pen was abandoned), the final grade of each individual wine being known at the end by the committee president. I find it a very elegant scoring system, even if I would have liked to write down certain wines on a piece of paper so that I could remember them at the end of the competition. All in all, it seems to me a step forward in the area of ​​digitizing the results of wine competitions, and I thank Cezar Ioan from Vinul.ro for the invitation and for the experience.

Following the judging of the 4 commissions, 56 of the more than 150 participating wines were rewarded with the following awards: 2 with Great Gold Medal (>95 points), 40 with Gold Medal (90-94.9 points) and 14 with Silver Medal. The level of the competition was high - the last average for obtaining a medal (Silver) was one that in other competitions even ensures the Gold Medal - 88.8 points, out of 100 possible.

The wines that have obtained Great Gold Medals are:

The complete list of medaled wines can be found here.

Carmina Nițescu
Winesday.ro & Winesday App

And to give you an idea of the atmosphere, I leave below a video made during the judging by Călin Stan.

Having this said I wish you try at least some of the above mentioned medal winning wines. It is very possible to find something on your taste! Cheers!