wein.plus honours the collections and discoveries of the 2022/23 tasting season

Europe's largest independent wine platform honours 17 wineries and one sparkling wine producer with the Collections of the Year and as Discoveries of the Year.

This season, tasting director Marcus Hofschuster and Kim Schreiber have presented the "Collection of the Year" award to 17 wineries and one sparkling wine producer from growing regions in Germany, Austria and Italy. The pair also honoured four previously little-known wineries from Germany and a winery in South Tyrol as their discoveries of the year. "The Collections of the Year go to established top producers and wineries that have caught our eye in a particularly positive way," says Marcus Hofschuster, explaining the selection.

18 awards after tasting around 7,000 wines and sparkling wines

In the 2022/2023 tasting season, Marcus Hofschuster and Kim Schreiber evaluated over 7,000 wines, of which around 1,100 scored more than 90 points. 54 wines achieved the "world class" category with 95 or more points. Due to the exactingly defined rating scale, these wines received the award in the literal sense of the word: overall, the tasters awarded these scores to less than one per cent of all the wines assessed. Only one received the maximum score of 100 points this season: It was the 2021 Riesling "Kreid" from Weingut Rings in Freinsheim (Pfalz), which was also honoured with a "Collection of the Year" award.

Tasting director Hofschuster used strict criteria to select the wineries for the collections and discoveries of the year from the comprehensive and precisely documented inventory of wine ratings. "It's often nuances that tip the scales in favour of the award," says Hofschuster, describing the demanding evaluation process, which often involves several rounds of tasting before the final points are awarded.

This tasting season revealed an important trend for him: drought has become an increasing and sometimes extreme problem across Europe. "In order to deal with it, massive changes in viticulture are required in some cases," explains Marcus Hofschuster. But even more water-rich vintages pose major difficulties: "Due to climate change, the weather is increasingly too warm these days. If moisture is added, this increases the disease pressure enormously. The grapes are also ripening earlier and earlier," explains the tasting manager. "Cooler vintages with rain at the right time and slow, even ripening are almost non-existent. The ultimate challenge is drought."

Marcus Hofschuster has been tasting Europe's top wines for wein.plus since 2000: always blind and always under the same conditions in the tasting room in Erlangen. His work is incorruptible, precise and thorough.

wein.plus congratulates these wineries:

Germany

Collections of the year

• Zehnthof - Luckert - Franconia

• Hermannsberg Estate - Nahe

• Achim Ritter and Edler von Oetinger - Rheingau

• Max Ferdinand Richter - Moselle

• Bernhard Huber - Baden

• Rings - Palatinate

• Gunderloch - Rheinhessen

• Aldinger - Württemberg

Discoveries of the year

• Krebs Winery - Baden

• Ottenbreit Winery - Franconia

• Heiligenblut Winery - Rheinhessen

• Winery Escher - Württemberg

Austria

Collections of the year

• Gernot and Heike Heinrich - Burgenland

• Johann Topf - Lower Austria

• Lackner-Tinnacher - Styria

Italy

Collections of the year

• Luigi Pira - Piedmont

• Arpepe - Lombardy

• Terre del Marchesato - Tuscany

• Passopisciaro - Sicily

• Terlan Winery - South Tyrol

Discovery of the year

• Winery Reyter - Christoph Unterhofer - South Tyrol

South Tyrol France

Collection of the year

• Domaine Combier - Rhône

Sparkling wine

Sparkling wine producer of the year

• Griesel & Compagnie - Bergstrasse (Germany)