Press release WINE System AG

PIWI International Wine Award is entering its ninth round

PAR®-tasting for wines made of fungus-resistant grape varieties – registration deadline is October 21, 2019 – Awarding ceremony at „Winzer-Service“ fair in Karlsruhe, Germany
 
Frasdorf, July 2019 – On November 01 – 03, 2019, again, Head of the tasting Martin Darting will drum up the PAR®-Jury team to put PIWI wines from all over the world to the sensory test. Three hundred sixty candidates from 17 different countries were listed in 2018, and a further rise is expected for this year. The International PIWI Wine Award is an annual competition announced by WINE System AG and PIWI International Association. The latter one promotes the exchange of information between research, vine nursery and viniculture for 19 years. To provide a profound and transparent quality view to winegrowers, retail and consumers, PIWI International launched the International PIWI Wine Award in 2010. The Awarding Ceremony will take place at the 3rd „Winzer-Service“ fair in Karlsruhe on November, 27. The tasting applies the internationally renowned PAR® testing method. Registration deadline is October 21, 2019.

Fungus-resistant grape varieties, or PIWIs for short, allow a considerable reduction of plant-health measures and help to protect the sensitive soils against compacting tractor rides. Employing appropriate oenological know-how, these types of grape can yield high-quality wines with an attractive sensory profile.

Facts against prejudice: The „sturdy vines“ become increasingly popular noticeably enriching the existing variety range. Since the establishment of the International PIWI Wine Award, the PIWI Association has been strongly relying on PAR® as a transparent tasting method with a clear argument for quality management and product development. Each submitted product is individually evaluated by a team of PAR® experts receiving an assessment of its handcrafted quality concerning origin and style. The PAR® testing method provides an objective rating of the characteristic features of wine to the consumers, and retail and sommeliers use the flavour profile charts for selective and professional service.
Visit us on  www.piwi-international.de to learn more about the contests as well as dates and conditions.
 
Background information:

PIWI International e.v Association promotes the information exchange between research organizations, growers, refiners of PIWI grape varieties and wine producers. Many fungus-resistant grape varieties have been put into practice during the last years, some of them on a trial base. There is a big information demand about this type of grape, namely detailed feature characterization, manual for the best possible winemaking, degustations, marketing exchange and how to better inform final consumers. Besides arranging of congresses and study groups, the initiation of the International PIWI Wine Award is an essential part of the PIWI activities. www.piwi-international.de
President: Josef Engelhart - Office: Susanne Sommer +49 (0)6133 5099226 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Established 1999, WINE System AG, with its extensive and informative wine database, builds a solid footing for the PAR rating system developed by Martin Darting. Likewise, the company proved itself to be a high-performance partner for winegrowers, retail and expert audience in the fields of wine and sensors. As a joint developer of this innovative and transparent assessment system for the sensorially measurable products like wine, bread, olive oil, cheese and many others, WINE System AG, under the leadership of Gisela Wüstinger, who holds a graduate degree in business, organises highly prestigious contests. The portfolio includes events like, for instance, international organic wine award, PAR Wine Award International and PIWI international wine award. The database that contains more than 35.000 listed wines became a global information tool highly appreciated among experts. www.winesystem.de
 
Martin Darting, a co-founder and supervisory board member of WINE System AG, is a professional winemaker, sensors expert and the initiator of the Biofach Wine Award. Besides his activities as a lecturer at the German wine and sommelier school, Martin Darting is a trainer for the professional PAR® tasters, as well as the head of all WINE System AG tastings. Also, Martin Darting provides oenological quality management consulting service to the winemakers and vineyards. www.martin-darting.de

Frasdorf, July 2018 – On the 19th and 20th of October 2018, the members of the top-flight PAR®-Jury together with Chief Dégustateur Martin Darting will reassemble to thoroughly scrutinise the sensory qualities of PIWI-wines from all over the world. Likewise 2017 with evaluated 339 nominees from 14 countries, this year edition promises the increase in the number of participants. White PIWI pioneer „Johaniter“ that covers the cultivation area of more than 100 hectares in Germany became an integral part of many vineyards. Known for its tender-fruity wines, which are excellent meal companions, this variety marks the 50th anniversary this year. The International PIWI Wine Award 2018 is advertised by WINE System AG and the Association PIWI International. The latter has been promoting the information interchange between research and vine nursery and wine-growing sector since 18 years committed to the growing international spread of the fungus-resistant grape types and to ensure the acceptance of these young varieties with all wine-growing and environmental benefits. In 2010, the Association PIWI International launched the PIWI Wine Award to provide a substantiated and comprehensible view of the PIWI quality to the wine-growers, retail and consumers. The dégustation is run following the PAR® test procedure of worldwide renown. The registration deadline is the 08th of October 2018.

Fungus-resistant types, like, for instance, Solaris, Cabernet Blanc, Regent or Rondo, are more resistant to the capricious climate change. These varieties enable low pesticides-input farming and help to preserve the sensitive soil from the tractor driving. The fact that young grape types are more high-yielding than the regular ones brought them a reputation for being mass production of inferior quality rather than top wines with an attractive sensory profile. Indeed, accurate measures to improve the quality of the vineyard should be implemented to maintain the production of individual and premium wines. As the contests of the recent years have shown, PIWI grapes and their producers have long since outgrown the status of being a victim sacrificing the quality due to the high-yielding crop.Thanks to the careful management of the vineyard and wine cellar PIWI varieties present us as exciting wines as their traditional progenitors do.

Transparency is combating scepticism: When looking at how to alleviate fearful attitudes one might have towards unfamiliar names and taste profiles of PIWI wines, the International PIWI Wine Award relies on the particularly transparent test method of renown – PAR. The quality assessment of submitted PIWIs requires not only full details about ingredients, but it also includes the origin, character and fitness for a particular purpose of the wine. A team of three certified PAR tasters exclusively evaluates each product providing an appraisal of its craftsmanlike and sensory aspects of valuable use for the quality management afterwards. Consumers are welcome to take benefit from PAR honest and objective judgement free of preconceived opinions and personal preferences, and retail can turn to good account this analysis providing focused and competent advice to the customers.

Read and learn more www.piwi-international.de.

Further information

Assessment with PAR®: - thanks to the transparency of the internationally recognized sensory testing system PAR, each submitted PIWI wine receives a replicable and objective documentation of its sensory and oenological characteristics, always assessed authenticity and style respectively. The PAR training enables the qualified jury consisting of oenologists, sommeliers and wine experts (certified by the German IHK) to assess each wine neutrally, excluding personal preferences or preconceived opinions regarding “good taste.” In the context of modern enology, new international wine styles experience appreciation and acceptance also in PAR assessment. Besides attracting attention brought by this award, many producers appreciate the revealing analyses underlying the PAR assessment. They show exactly which criteria have led to respective results and provide valuable documentation for the quality management. This system ensures an objective assessment with 100-point-pattern based on replicable documentation.

PIWI International e.v Association promotes the information exchange between research organizations, growers, refiners of PIWI grape varieties and wine producers. Many fungus-resistant grape varieties have been put into practice during the last years, some of them on a trial base. There is a big information demand about this type of grape, namely detailed feature characterization, manual for the best possible winemaking, degustations, marketing exchange and how to better inform final consumers. Besides arranging of congresses and study groups, the initiation of the International PIWI Wine Award is an essential part of the PIWI activities.  www.piwi-international.de
President: Josef Engelhart - Office: Susanne Sommer 06133-5099226 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Press release WINE System AG

PAR®-Jury tasted 471 PIWI-wines from 14 countries.

The particular advantages of PIWIs in the close-to-nature viticulture are not least reflected by the impressive figure of 200 organic wines submitted to the International PIWI Wine Award 2019. The organic PIWIs represent the majority at the top: 17 products out of a total of 27 Top Gold winners. The best result of the tasting with 99 points was achieved by the 2018 Göcseji Zamatos – a reductively made white wine - produced by the Slovakian organic wine-growing estate Víno Hladký from the Little Carpathians region. Likewise in the category of white wines, this result was closely followed by the reductively matured in steel tank 2018 Souvignier Gris Kabinett dry from the organic vineyard Jürgen Walz coming from the Kaiserstuhl region, as well as masterfully oxidatively done 2018 Saphira Barrique produced by Bosshart + Grimm bio vineyard that is located in the German-speaking Switzerland. Each of them earned 98 points. In total, 15 whites were awarded Top Gold.
Ten products in the category red wine were decorated with Top Gold this year. The top ratings with 98 points each are the 2018 UTOPIA from Chateau Thivin located in the French Beaujolais – a traditionally barrique-made PIWI-Cuvée consisting of Prior, Chambourcin, Sauvignier gris und Pinotin; the 2016 Réserve produced by the biodynamic winery Schönhals from the Rhinehessen – a traditionally barrique-matured Cuvée of Cabertin und Satin Noir; the 2018 „Mundorff - Cabernet Cantor im Barriquefass gereift“ produced by the vineyard Wohlgemut-Schnürr in Rhinehessen; the oxidatively steel tank-done 2018 Regent Spätlese from the organic winery Vollmer on the Baden shore of the Lake Constance, as well as the 2018 NUGELORO Cabernet Jura , matured in steel tank and barrique, coming from wine-growing estate Schmid Stingelin in the northern part of Switzerland.
As is the case each year, dessert wines are among the frontrunners. Three nominees were decorated with Top Gold medals. The 2018 Solaris Auslese „Arzheimer Kalmit“ produced at wine-growing estate Werner Anselmann in the Palatinate region and the Regent Rotwein Auslese edelsüß from E. & A. Behringer OHG Rhinehessen were among the top winners, both matured in steel tank and decorated with 97 points each.

The complete Ranking list, as well as PAR assessment sheets, are available at https://www.piwi-international.de/en/results-2019.html. 
Country specific lists of the competition are available under the following link for free download: https://www.piwi-international.de/en/download-2019-en.html.

This year’s contest was again of high and sustainable quality, delivering a slightly smaller number of premium wines compared to the previous years, however, mostly performing with the general high craft competence. Nearly all producers had to address the challenge of climate change last year, as this has come to stay in the vineyard during the hot year of 2018. Especially in the regions of colder climates with traditionally more fresh wine production, wine-growers had to cope with low acidity and reduced extract density as a result of the heatwave.
Whether the acceptance and adaption or the fight for the maintenance of the same usual wine style should be the right response to this shift, such decision should be made solely by the producers. Obviously, neither humans nor plants have enough time to prepare for this change. The decreasing steadiness of temperature and precipitation will subsequently influence the ripening time, entire harvest size and fungal infestation that traditionally means the increased application of fungicides. The good news is that this risk can be significantly minimised by planting PIWI grape varieties. Less fungicide means the reduced input of CO2 through machine application and more resilient soil. Martin Darting: „Hence my appeal to the wine lovers: Be open to the new grape varieties and support PIWI. Demands of the market increasingly force the wine-growers to plant the resistant grapes. Year after year, the International PIWI Wine Award illustrates that these varieties also deliver high-quality and appealing wines.“

The International PIWI Wine Award has been originated to provide sufficient guidelines to the consumers and retail for these versatile new varieties, and at the same time to support the pioneering role of producers as well as their commitment to sustainable agriculture. Initiated by PIWI International and organised by WINE System AG, this prestigious, high-quality contest applies the world-renowned PAR® tasting method. Due to the analytical and nuanced approach of the PAR® tasters, the assessment includes all aspects of winemaking and climatic conditions. The results are objective and transparent in detail. Learn more at https://www.par-system.de/en/.

PIWI International e. V. Association promotes the information exchange between research organizations, growers, refiners of PIWI grape varieties and wine producers. Many fungus-resistant grape varieties have been put into practice during the last years, some of them on a trial base. There is a big information demand about this type of grape, namely detailed feature characterization, manual for the best possible winemaking, degustations, marketing exchange and how to better inform final consumers. Besides arranging of congresses and study groups, the initiation of the International PIWI Wine Award is an essential part of the PIWI activities.www.piwi-international.de
President: Josef Engelhart - Office: Susanne Sommer +49 6133 5099226 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Established 1999, WINE System AG, with its extensive and informative wine database, builds a solid footing for the PAR rating system developed by Martin Darting. Likewise, the company proved itself to be a high-performance partner for winegrowers, retail and expert audience in the fields of wine and sensors. As a joint developer of this innovative and transparent assessment system for the sensorially measurable products like wine, bread, olive oil, cheese and many others, WINE System AG, under the leadership of Martin Darting an Brigitte Wüstinger, organises highly prestigious contests. The portfolio includes events like, for instance, international organic wine award, PAR Wine Award International and International PIWI Wine Award. The database that contains more than 35.000 listed wines became a global information tool highly appreciated among experts. www.winesystem.de 

Press release WINE System AG

„2016 was the year of PIWIs!“

International PIWI Wine Award 2017 – a high-quality contest for the fungus-resistant grape varieties – 339 wines from 14 countries

Bad Dürkheim, October 2017 – The climatically challenging wine year 2016 was the perfect one to demonstrate the brilliance of the young fungus-resistant varieties called PIWIs. The jury of the seventh International PIWI Wine Award judged the ability of these resilient vines and its ever-expanding diversity to deliver the top quality wines. Mr. Martin Darting, Head of PAR®-Team, was pleased to taste 339 PIWI wines produced in 14 countries. The most successful ones were decorated with medals: 18 Top Gold, 133 Gold, 142 Silver. Two red wines as well as one white and sweet wine each shared the 98 PAR points top rating position this year: the 2015 Regent Auslese Barrique from Weinhof Winter, Saale-Unstrut, the organically produced 2015 Regent Auslese Barrique from Hofgut Sonnenschein, Baden, the 2016 Solaris from Tenuta Baron Longo, South Tirol and the 2016 Solaris Trockenbeerenauslese „Friedelsheimer Schloßgarten“ from Vier Jahreszeiten Winzer eG, Palatinate region. The official awarding ceremony will take place during the big public tasting „Weinkost Weinstadt“ on the 18th of November 2017 in the Jahnhalle Weinstadt close to Stuttgart.

Top Gold for Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Poland: It was as though the winemakers cultivating Regent variety wanted to honour its 50th anniversary; this PIWI vine appeared to be a notable success. Hence two further „Regents“ closely followed both frontrunners with 97 PAR points: the 2016 Regent trocken from Organic Winery Hemer, Rhinehessen, and 2015 Regent trocken from wine-growing estate Egon Schmitt, Palatinate region. Likewise, the 2016 Maréchal Foch matured in an oak barrel at organically farming estate Geiger from Switzerland received 96 PAR-points achieving the Top Gold Position. While the single-variety products prevailed among the Top Red Wines, the Top Gold White PIWI League also presented a Cuvée - the 2016 „Triengler Gaukler“, a blend of Muscaris, Muscatin and Solaris from winery Barmet based in the Central Switzerland. The best White from Austria was the organically grown 2015 Blanca-Souvignier coming from Ploder Rosenberg, Styria, honoured with 96 PAR points. The 2016 Johanniter Eiswein from Winnica Turnau, Poland, scintillated with 96 points in the category of „Dessert Wine.“ 

A bounty for the quality-minds: Features observed during various international competitions with mainly classical grape varieties also apply to fungus-resistant cultures. Martin Darting said: „Due to its easy use and reliable resistance characteristics PIWI can be a large-scale producer. Unfortunately, such wines showed only weak results.Those who committed to quality, for instance, using yield reduction or omission of the leaf removal, could produce minerally dense and extremely sophisticated aromatic wines equipped with a bounty of medals.“ 
When looking at the success stories of the certain varieties, it becomes obvious that along with the well-established varieties like, for instance, the white Solaris or red Regent, the emergent grape types like Cabernet Blanc, the young PIWI CAL 6-04 or Merlot Kanthus are increasingly gaining pace. „Under the condition of yield reduction, Cabernet Blanc, which has been awarded 16 Gold medals in 2017, is about to turn into a terroir reflecting wine, full of finesse and very similar to the Sauvignon Blanc. The increased experience of winemakers with the variety becomes obvious.“, Martin Darting continued. „Innovation on the one hand and excellent performance of skillfulness on the other also convinced by the „Reds“. Cortis, Carol, Jura and Carbon from Cabernet Family known for an element of distinct aroma dominance experienced serious competition through VB91-26-04, Pinotin and Merlot Kanthus.“
Similar to the previous year, not only known European wine countries delivered the prime quality. Also, the „Northern Lights“ like Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Poland and the Czech Republic took advantage of PIWI benefits and received the top rating.

Awarding ceremony during the big public tasting „Weinkost Weinstadt“: Big public wine tasting „Weinkost Weinstadt“ will take place on the 18th of November 2017 in Jahnhalle close to Stuttgart. This event is the perfect opportunity to learn more about the quality and diversity of the PIWI wines. PIWI International will present the winners of the International PIWI Wine Award at 3 p.m. www.weinkost-weinstadt.de 

PIWI International Wine Award: Initiated by PIWI International and organised by WINE System AG, this prestigious competition capitalises on highly recognised PAR tasting method. Due to an analytical and differentiated approach of specifically trained PAR tasters, all aspects of winemaking and climatic conditions are taken into consideration in the assessment of wines. The results are objective and transparent in every detail. PIWIs were bred as fungus-resistant grape varieties to protect winegrowing against diseases like Peronospora and Oidium, also called downy and powdery mildew, and to keep the use of fungicides to a minimum. PIWIs often described as a “robust vine”, manage almost to dispense with plant protection creating an environmental and economic profit. Despite a tough wine year 2016 with a high fungal infestation, PIWI winemakers could work way more relaxed and ecological than the colleagues cultivating common grape varieties.

Please visit www.piwi-international.de to learn more about the full ranking, PAR evaluation forms and wine description.

Further information

Assessment with PAR®: - thanks to the transparency of the internationally recognized sensory testing system PAR, each submitted PIWI wine becomes a replicable and objective documentation of its sensory and oenological characteristics, always assessed authenticity and style respectively. The PAR training enables the qualified jury consisting of oenologists, sommeliers and wine experts (certified by the German IHK) to assess each wine neutrally, excluding personal preferences or preconceived opinions regarding “good taste.” In the context of modern enology, new international wine styles experience appreciation and acceptance also in PAR assessment. Besides attracting attention brought by this award, many producers appreciate the revealing analyses underlying the PAR assessment. They show exactly which criteria have led to respective results and provide valuable documentation for the quality management. This system ensures an objective assessment with 100-point-pattern based on replicable documentation.

PIWI International e.v Association promotes the information exchange between research organizations, growers, refiners of PIWI grape varieties and wine producers. Many fungus-resistant grape varieties have been put into practice during the last years, some of them on a trial base. There is a big information demand about this type of grape, namely detailed feature characterization, manual for the best possible winemaking, degustations, marketing exchange and how to better inform final consumers. Besides arranging of congresses and study groups, the initiation of the International PIWI Wine Award is an essential part of the PIWI activities. President: Josef Engelhart - Office: Susanne Sommer 06133-5099226 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

WINE System AG, based in Frasdorf, under the guidance of CEO Gisela Wüstinger, consults wine growers and retailers since 1999. WINE System AG provides a wide range of expert services for creating and improving internet presence. WINE System AG offers a comprehensive database which is well accepted in the industry. Informative bottlenecktag has been developed by WINE System AG in order to provide better product promotion in the retail. WINE System AG is co-developer of the international PAR-System for wine, bread, cheese, olive oil and organizes tastings during annual PAR organic wine award, PIWI wine award, PAR award South Africa and PAR Greek wine award. www.winesystem.de