How to gather top experts from different branches of winemaking at one place is best known to the Vinart company in Zagreb, which has organized the presentation of Vinart’s annual achievement awards for the second year in a row. In front of nearly 250 distinguished guests from the world of media, entrepreneurship and winemaking, the Wine Oscars were awarded to those who were the best in the Croatian wine circles in the past year. The importance of these awards has been recognized not just by winemakers and wine industry representatives, but also by companies such as Romerquelle and Lidl, which sponsored the event.
“We are proud that the presentation of awards to the best winemakers and wineries has successfully come to life, which proves that Croatia is steadily growing and developing not just its interest for top quality wines, but also its wine industry,” said Saša Špiranec from Vinart.
Among the award-winners, the best were Vlado Krauthaker, who has deservedly become the Romerquelle Person of the Year, and the Miloš winery as the Romerquelle Winery of the Year. “For over 30 years, the Miloš winery has been working uncompromisingly on the promotion of Pelješac and the Plavac Mali variety, as well as on the expression of local terroir and sortiment. I am glad that our efforts have been recognized because we do not try to win over the general public. Instead, we work uncompromisingly, both in our jobs and in life. Thank you all,” said Ivan Miloš.
The winners of prizes in the Lidl regional wineries category were the Šember winery (Hilly Croatia), the Krauthaker winery (Slavonia and the Danube Region), the Fakin winery (Istria and Kvarner) and the Miloš winery (Dalmatia).
In the Vinart trading categories, the winners were Roto Dinamic as a wholesaler of the year, Bornstein as the wine shop of the year, and Vino.hr as the internet shop of the year.
At the glamorous event hosted by Vedran Mlikota, with the help of Saša Špiranec and assistance of Sanja Muzaferija, the WOW association also presented its awards for the seventh time. The WOW awards and the WOW Grand Prix are actually the grand finals of the WOW initiative “What Women Want” and are awarded in the categories of sparkling wine, white wine, rose, red wine and dessert wine, chosen according to a list provided by a different sommelier every year.
In previous years, these were Karin Rupena-Perdec, Alena Stuparić, Siniša Lasan, Mario Meštrović, Roko Bekavac and Jelena Šimić-Valentić, and this year the honour went to Željko Bročilović Carlos. In the final stage of the selection, the winner of each category is selected by a jury after a blind tasting. This year, the jury was composed of Marija Mrgudić, winemaker; Margita Belušić-Gobić, the WOW vice-president, ASI; Maja Kuzmanović, WSET 2nd Degree; all very experienced wine evaluators.
Unlike the medals and diplomas winemakers usually win, the WOW provides specific prizes for each winner, a valuable sculpture designed by the renowned design organization “Group”, while the overall winner of the WOW Grand Prix wins a study tour of a wine region. In previous years, Gianfranco Kozlović travelled to Bordeaux, Saša Senjković to Champagne, Moreno Coronica to Barcelona and Penedes, Luka Krajančić to Burgundy, Frano Milina Bire to Austria, while last year the Meneghetti Red coupage won and led a representative of the Meneghetti winery to Tuscany.
This year’s winners were: sparkling wine – the Centurion Gold, Graševina; white wine – Premium 2013 by Jasna Antunović Turk; rose – Teuta 2017 of the Prović winery; red wine – Teran2105, Benvenuti; dessert wine – Prošek Amber, the Bibić winery. Everyone proudly took home sculptures presented to them by the association president and founder of the awards, journalist Sanja Muzaferija. The WOW Grand Prix was won by Proške Ambra, so the overall winner Alen Bibić will travel to a wine destination as arranged by the WOW association.
The Vinart Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to persons who through their work have left a mark on the Croatian winemaking industry. This year, the recipients are the legendary winemaker from Međimurje Franjo Lebar, the pioneer of private entrepreneurship in the wine industry Ivan Enjingi, the initiator of the modern Dalmatian wine scene Zlatan Plenković, the first wine wholesaler and wine-shop owner Vlado Borošić, and the distinguished scientist and author of numerous expert publications Nikola Mirošević.
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