The VDP.winery Rings from Freinsheim (Pfalz) is awarded with the "Collection of the Year 2020" at Meininger’s Red Wine Award. After the winery was already able to impress with its red wine collection in 2018, the red wines of brothers Steffen and Andreas Rings impress again this year. The "2018 Felsenberg Spätburgunder GG" not only achieves the highest score of 94 (world class) awarded in the competition, but also wins the category of the Pinot Noir Single Vineyards. The two wines "2018 Kalkofen Spätburgunder Erste Lage" and "2018 Steinacker Spätburgunder Erste Lage" were awarded 93 points, the "2018 Saumagen Spätburgunder GG" achieved 92 points, the international red wine cuvée "2018 Das Kreuz" was awarded 90 points and the "2018 Syrah Réserve" 89 points.

The number of top wineries has increased significantly in recent years. A total of six wineries were able to achieve an average of over 90 points for their red wines, including the A. Christmann Winery from the Palatinate, the Knipser Winery (also in the Palatinate), the Franz Keller - Schwarzer Adler Winery from Baden, the Meyer-Näkel Winery (Ahr) and the Peth-Wetz Winery from Rheinhessen, which impressed in particular with international red wine grape varieties.

Christian Wolf, Director Degustation of Meininger’s Red Wine Award: "We are convinced that the quality of Pinot Noir has once again improved significantly. This is also shown by the results of this year's competition. Top producers, and we know more and more of them in Germany, manage to present absolute highlights and prime examples of Pinot Noir with great sensitivity even in challenging years. This year, however, I would like to point out that German red wine is not only Pinot Noir. Well-known grape varieties such as Portugieser, Frühburgunder or St. Laurent have shown that variety can be something beautiful. International varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah have also developed incredibly well. I believe that we can expect a lot more here in the future"

 

The results of Meininger's Red Wine Award at a glance

Exactly 200 German red wines were evaluated this year by a total of 80 members of the expert jury with a top rating of 90 points and more. Three times, the highest score of 94 points was awarded, all to wines from the category II - Spätburgunder Single Vineyard (2018 Felsenberg Pinot Noir GG, Winery Rings, Palatinate; 2017 Schnaiter Burghalde Pinot Noir GG, Winery Karl Haidle, Baden; 2015 Laumersheimer Kirschgarten Pinot Noir GG, Winery Knipser, Palatinate).

The Palatinate is the best growing region with 294 awards, second place goes to Württemberg (175), third place to Rheinhessen (121), followed by Baden (111), the Rheingau (26) and the Ahr (24).

The Pinot Noir again leads the list of winners this year: A total of 311 awards went to the Pinot Noir category (120) and to the Pinot Noir from single vineyards (191). International grape varieties ranked second with 174 awards, and third place went to the Variety category with 108 awards. 

There was no need to do without an award ceremony this year either. The awards were presented virtually under the moderation of Director Degustation Christian Wolf and Christoph Nicklas, editor of Meininger's Weinwelt.

The fact that the competition could take place at all in times of a global pandemic is due to a well-thought-out hygiene concept. Thus, this year's Meiningers Red Wine Award provided a worthy platform for the best German red wines.

All award-winning German red wines are now available on www.meininger.de/en. More information can also be found on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/MeiningersRotweinpreis. There you will also find a recording of the award ceremony, where the winners of the categories are presented.

The first place winners as well as a Top 100 of the best German red wines will be presented in the new issue of Meininger's Weinwelt, which will be published in mid-November.

An overview of the category winners of Meininger's Red Wine Award 2020:

Category I – Spätburgunder

1st place	2018 Malterdinger Alte Reben Spätburgunder Weingut Huber, Malterdingen (Baden)
2nd place	2018 Pinot Noix Spätburgunder Weingut Daniel Twardowski, Neumagen-Dhron (Mosel)
3rd place	2018 »von unserm« Rheingau Pinot Noir trocken Weingut Balthasar Ress, Hattenheim (Rheingau)

 

Category II – Spätburgunder Single Vineyard

 

1st place	2018 Felsenberg Spätburgunder GG Weingut Rings, Freinsheim (Pfalz)
2nd place	2017 Schnaiter Burghalde Spätburgunder GG Weingut Karl Haidle, Kernen (Württemberg)
3rd place	2015 Laumersheimer Kirschgarten Spätburgunder GG Weingut Knipser, Laumersheim (Pfalz)

 

Category III – Lemberger / Blaufränkisch

 

1st place	2017 Untertürkheimer Altenberg Lemberger trocken Weingut Schwarz, Stuttgart (Württemberg)
2nd place	2017 Stettener Berge Lemberger GG Weingut Karl Haidle, Kernen (Württemberg)
3rd place	2017 Stettener Mönchberg Gernhalde Lemberger GG Weingut Karl Haidle, Kernen (Württemberg)

 

Category IV – International grape varieties

 

1st place	2016 CF Cabernet Franc Großes Geweih Christian Hirsch, Leingarten (Württemberg)
2nd place	2018 Syrah trocken Excellance Weingut Plag, Kürnbach (Baden)
3rd place	2016 RC Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Christian Hirsch, Leingarten (Württemberg)

 

Category V – local (German) grape varietis

 

1st place	2018 Dernauer Hardtberg Frühburgunder GG Weingut Kreuzberg, Dernau (Ahr)
2nd place	2018 Sausenheimer Honigsack St. Laurent trocken Weingut Karl-Heinz Gaul, Grünstadt (Pfalz)
3rd place	2016 Siefersheimer Heerkretz Frühburgunder trocken Weingut Achenbach, Wonsheim (Rheinhessen)

 

Category VI – Variety (other grape varieties and cuvées)

 

1st place	2018 Grand Vintage Petit Verdot Weingut Peth-Wetz, Bermersheim (Rheinhessen)
2nd place	2018 Grand Vintage Malbec Weingut Peth-Wetz, Bermersheim (Rheinhessen)
3rd place	2018 Assemblage Reserve Weingut Peth-Wetz, Bermersheim (Rheinhessen)

 

Category VII – mature red wines (vintage 2014 and older)

 

1st place	2013 Réserve Spätburgunder trocken Weingut Knipser, Laumersheim (Pfalz)
2nd place	2013 Endinger Engelsberg Spätburgunder Weingut Knab, Endingen (Baden)
3rd place	2012 Divinus Portugieser trocken im Barrique gereift Weinkonvent Dürrenzimmern, Brackenheim - Dürrenzimmern (Württemberg)

 

Category VIII – red wines with residual sugar (semi dry and sweet)

 

1st place	2018 Durbacher Kochberg Spätburgunder Auslese Durbacher Winzergenossenschaft, Durbach (Baden)
2nd place	2018 Lemberger Red Label Rolf Willy Privatkellerei, Nordheim (Württemberg)
3rd place	2018 Nordheimer Heuchelberg Spätburgunder Beerenauslese Rolf Willy Privatkellerei, Nordheim (Württemberg)

 

Collection of the year 2020

 

Weingut Rings, Pfalz

 

About Meininger’s Red Wine Award

Since 2015, a selected jury of red wine experts has met once a year in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Germany, to (blind) taste and evaluate around 1,200 German red wines according to the internationally recognised 100-point scheme. The competition is the only state-approved competition exclusively for German red wines.

The competition is organised by Meininger Verlag, founded in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse in 1903, one of the oldest German specialist publishers and managed in the fourth generation by Andrea Meininger-Apfel and Christoph Meininger. The company specialises in the wine and beverage industry in particular and is the European market leader in the wine sector with its portfolio. In addition to well-known trade journals, the company organises trade fairs, industry events and specialist congresses. Internationally, Meininger Verlag has made a successful name for itself with the Grand International Wine Award MUNDUS VINI.

 

The German red wines were divided into eight categories. The best in each category were awarded 1st to 3rd place in addition to the number of points achieved. The 80-member jury consisted of experts from the upscale wine trade, top restaurants, selected top winemakers and the trade press.