Graševina, Olaszrizling and Welschriesling: three different names, but meaning the same grape variety, which gave rise to the acronym GROW. The origins of this great Carpathian variety are obscure, with some people linking it to France, others to southern Italy and some to Croatia. However, everyone agrees that its neutral, terroir-expressing qualities allow it to be used in a wide range of winemaking techniques, from light, fresh fruity styles to full-bodied, oily, barrel-aged wines. It produces very popular wines in our country in the Balaton wine region, and it is no wonder that some of our country's finest examples can be found here.
Three years ago, three wine writers from different countries, Saša Špiranec (Croatia), Zoltán Győrffy (Hungary) and Igor Luković (Serbia), initiated the largest international competition of Olaszrizling wines, which is a worthy tribute to this exceptional variety.
The competition will assess wines in six categories: still, young wines (2023 vintage), still, aged wines (2022 and older), sweet wines, sparkling wines, orange wines and blends. The wines will be awarded silver, gold and platinum medals, and the best rated wines within each category will be awarded the GROW du Monde trophy.
Exceeding all expectations, 349 wines from 7 countries entered the competition, judged by a panel of judges from 10 different countries, including several Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers. In a competition like this, the judges are looking for the most authentic wines, made from the grape varieties in which the founders and organisers have long been firm believers. The complex judging of wines allows an understanding of this great grape variety, which this year was achieved using WineCompass wine judging software.
One of today's most modern and innovative applications has everything a 21st century judging system needs to know. The judging software is customisable in every way, including the number of wines, judges and panels, as well as the number of points, the averaging methods and even the look and feel. Complex judging allows a complete analysis of the wines, providing important feedback to the winemaker and the public. Each year, it provides objective and credible results from several major wine competitions, including the most prestigious and renowned VinAgora International Wine Competition, which has supported the continuous development of WineCompass for 25 years. Now it has contributed to the success of GROW Du Monde, simplifying administration, facilitating the judging process and making the results more credible, thus raising the quality of the results:
At the GROW awards ceremony in Balatonfüred, 5 trophies were awarded to the category winners, as well as 17 platinum, 82 gold, 92 silver and 82 bronze medals. From this year onwards, at the initiative of Rizling Generation, the co-organiser of the event, GROW can be added to bottles as a synonym for Olaszrizling (even as an additional description), which can be an advantage and a better recognition in international markets.
The third GROW du Monde competition announced winners in five categories:
- Best young Olaszrizling: Vino Gaube Laški Rizling 2023 (Slovenia)
- Best mature Olaszrizling: Vinařtsví No. 44 Dunajovský Vlašák Pašák 2022 (Czech Republic)
- Best sweet Olaszrizling: Galić Graševina "Mateo" Izborna berba 2018 (Croatia)
- Best orange/natural wine: Vina Joannes Natura 2021 (Slovenia)
- Best Olaszrizling based blend: Figula Pincészet Olasz&Furmint 2021 (Hungary)
The national medal table was the following: Hungary 8 platinum, 48 gold, 54 silver, 47 bronze
- Czech Republic 3 platinum, 7 gold, 5 silver
- Slovenia 3 platinum, 1 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze
- Croatia 1 platinum, 13 gold, 18 silver, 20 bronze
- Serbia 1 platinum, 7 gold, 7 silver, 6 bronze
- Slovakia 1 platinum, 5 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
- Italy 1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
