The event has grown into a one-week celebration, kicking off in Újlak on June 7 and culminating in Belgrade a week later with the Grašac Festival. It was there that the international wine competition’s awards were announced. And who took home the most accolades? The Czech Republic clearly earned the highest scores, but Hungary proudly secured second place on the podium with an impressive showing of its own.
What Makes This Competition Special?
GROW du Monde is unique in that it is exclusively dedicated to wines made from the Welschriesling grape variety known locally by many names, including Graševina and Olaszrizling. The name “GROW” itself is an acronym formed from these regional terms.
This wine competition is both a tribute to one of the most important white grape varieties of the Carpathian Basin and a platform for its reinterpretation, rediscovery, and even global repositioning.
One grape, countless names, infinite expressions from diverse terroirs to distinct styles. Welschriesling is no longer just the go-to wine for a summer spritzer. It has evolved into a complex, multi-layered variety that can offer surprisingly deep and characterful wine experiences.
Let’s Look at the Numbers
This year’s edition of GROW du Monde saw a total of 255 wine samples submitted from 8 countries, evaluated by an 18-member international jury, including three Masters of Wine. Once again, the panel’s work was supported by the WineCompass judging system a platform already proven many times over at the VinAgora International Wine Competition. Thanks to its flexibility, WineCompass can be tailored to competitions of virtually any size and fine-tuned to meet specific needs, just as it was for GROW. The digital scoring system enabled fast, precise, and smooth judging, automatically generating a comprehensive profile for each wine accessible to everyone.
Wines competed in 6 different categories for prestigious awards. Hungary submitted the most entries (79), followed by Croatia (67) and Serbia (51). The Czech Republic entered 39 wines and impressively earned medals for all but two. Slovenia also participated with 14 wines.
Of the 255 samples, 187 received medals. In addition, 12 Platinum awards were given, with four of those wines also earning the top-level “Trophy” distinction (a fifth Trophy was awarded to a gold medal winner). In total, five wines reached the absolute top of the podium with Trophy honors, and one received a Special Prize.
This year’s medal distribution was as follows: 48 Gold, 60 Silver, and 66 Bronze medals.
Hungary brought home 1 Platinum, 1 Trophy, 17 Gold, 18 Silver, and 19 Bronze medals.
Congratulations to all medal winner!
Trophy Winners by Category:
Best Wine of the 2024 Vintage:
Zámecké Vinařství Bzenec Ryzlink vlašský ZVB Collection 2024
(Czech Republic, Moravia)
Best Aged Varietal Wine:
Vinařství Volařík Ryzlink vlašský Levá Klentnická 2021
(Czech Republic, Moravia)
Best Sweet Wine:
Krauthaker Graševina Izborna berba prosušenih bobica 2019
(Croatia, Kutjevo)
Best Orange Wine:
Vinarija Vinčić Amfora 2019
(Serbia, Srem–Fruška Gora)
Best Blend (at least 50% Olaszrizling):
Lázár János Pince Olaszrizling–Sárgamuskotály 2024
(Hungary, Balatonfüred–Csopak)
Special Prize (25-year-old museum release):
Iločki Podrumi Graševina Arhivska 2000
(Croatia, Ilok)
The full list of medal-winning wines is available on the wine competition’s results page.
