GRAND PRIX VINEX announces a hat-trick – the Champion title goes to the winery Vinařství Štěpán Maňák for the third time running

18. 5. 2022
News

On 3rd and 4th May 2022 the expert evaluation of the 29th edition of the international wine contest GRAND PRIX VINEX took place at the National Wine Centre in Valtice.

The title of Champion was awarded to Sauvignon Blanc 2021 selection of grapes from the winery Vinařství Štěpán Maňák in Žádovice near Kyjov. The general public will get the opportunity to become acquainted with the best wines at the Brno Exhibition Centre on 21st and 22nd May 2022.

This year 867 samples emanating from 158 wineries in 8 countries took part in the competition. Naturally most wines (734) were from the Czech Republic, followed by Hungary (58), Slovakia (37) and Austria (22). Wines also came from Italy (7), Moldova (5), Germany (3) and France (1).

The same as last year and the year before the winemaker who did best was Štěpán Maňák. He extended his triumphant run for a third year, when he gained the jurors’ favour with his Merlot, while the previous year it had been his Sauvignon Blanc. “This year’s champion is his younger sibling,“ added the delighted winery owner after the announcement of this vinous hat-trick, “and so wine lovers can once again look forward to a lively and juicy wine of greenish hue with a nose reminiscent of gooseberries, jostaberries and blackcurrant leaves.“

Apart from the champion, the category winners, the best collection, the highest awarded wine from a member of the Czech Grape and Wine Producers Association and national winners for countries entering at least ten samples were all announced. This year’s category winners (including the champion) all come from this country.

CHAMPION and Category Winners:

Category A1 – Dry white wines
Ryzlink vlašský, 2019, výběr z hroznů, Ing. Miroslav Volařík, Mikulov

Category A2 – Semi-dry white wines - Champion and Category Winner
Sauvignon, 2021, výběr hroznů, Štěpán Maňák, Žádovice

Category A3 – Semi-sweet white wines
Sommelier Collection Pálava, 2020, pozdní sběr, DAVINUS s.r.o., Praha

Category B2 – Other rosé wines (including blanc de noirs)
Cabernet Sauvignon rosé, 2021, pozdní sběr, Vinařství Petr Bíza, Mutěnice

Category C1 – Dry red wines
Merlot GRAND REZERVA, 2018, výběr z hroznů, Vinařství Kněží hora s.r.o., Bzenec

Category D – Naturally sweet wines
Ryzlink vlašský, 2018, výběr z bobulí, Vinum Moravicum a.s., Bzenec

Category E1 – Semi-sparkling wines
Frizzanté André rosé, 2021, jakostní perlivé víno, Vinařství V & M Zborovský, v.o.s., Velké Pavlovice

Category E2 – Sparkling wines
Bohemia Sekt Prestige 36 brut, 2015, jakostní šumivé víno, BOHEMIA SEKT, s.r.o., Starý Plzenec

National Winners

National winner – Czech Republic
Ryzlink vlašský, 2018, výběr z bobulí, Vinum Moravicum a.s., Bzenec

National winner – Hungary
Mr. Frank - Kékfrankos, 2018, PDO, Lantos Családi Pincészet, Soltvadkert

National winner – Slovakia
Rizling vlašský, 2021, akostné odrodové víno, Promitor Vinorum, Galanta

National winner – Austria
Grüner Veltliner Hammer, 2021, Qualitätswein, Weingut Schulz, Dobermannsdorf

The award by the Czech Grape and Wine Producers Association went to ZNOVÍN ZNOJMO, a.s. for its Veltlínské zelené, 2021, VOC Znojmo.

The prize for the best collection was awarded to Janoušek Family Winery (Rodinné vinařství Janoušek) from Rakvice.

“This year’s competition once again pointed out the excellent quality of the wines“, said Pavel Krška, director of the competition, confirming the fact with these words: “A good number of the wines took medals, 46 of them even won a grand gold medal (min. 90 points). Quite out of the ordinary is the rating for the Welschriesling 2019, selection of berries, produced by the winery Vinum Moravicum of Bzenec – this wine obtained more than 97 points from the jurors.“

The wines were assessed by committees of local and foreign tasters on a platform of the computer evaluation system ELWIS, developed by the National Wine Centre.

The most represented grape variety among the white wines was the locally developed cultivar Pálava (77), among the reds it was Frankovka a.k.a. Blaufränkisch (29). The greatest number of entries came from the vintages 2021 (512), 2020 (180) and 2019 (91). However, older wines were also entered.

The “Champion“, the best rated collection of wines and the category winners all receive prestigious prizes in the form of trophies designed by Jiří Matela, pupil of the world-famous designer Bořek Šípek. The producer of the wine with the title "Champion" receives a high-pressure cleaner from competition partner, the firm KÄRCHER. For their evaluating work the jurors received a gift sponsored by another competition partner – the advertising agency Asalonta.

After a two-year enforced break the specialised evaluation part of the competition will be followed by a public tasting of more than 600 medal-winning wines at the Brno Exhibition Centre. Wine lovers will be able to participate during the weekend of 21st to 22nd May and combine their wine tasting with a visit to the parallel sales exhibition Minerals Brno.

GRAND PRIX VINEX is a traditional international wine competition organized by the National Wine Centre in cooperation with the Brno Trade Fairs and the Czech Grape and Wine Producers Association and with the support of the Wine Fund. The aim of the competition is to evaluate and award the best European and world wines present on the market of the Central European region at a high professional level every year. The 29th edition of the international wine competition GRAND PRIX VINEX was held under the auspices of the Minister of Agriculture Ing. Zdeněk Nekula, the Governor of the South Moravian Region Mgr. Jan Grolich and the Mayor of the Statutory City of Brno JUDr. Markéta Vaňková.

Public presentation

After a two-year enforced break the specialised evaluation part of the competition will be followed by a public tasting of more than 600 medal-winning wines at the Brno Exhibition Centre. Wine lovers will be able to participate during the weekend of 21st to 22nd May and combine their wine tasting with a visit to the parallel sales exhibition Minerals Brno.

See more about the competition at: www.grand-prix-vinex.cz.