Berliner Wine Trophy - World's Largest OIV Wine Competition

In our facilities in Berlin, our logistics staff receive hundreds of wines a day during the months prior to the tasting. They unpack, identify and check that the samples match the data provided in the “sample passport” and in our system. Only then is an internal code assigned that will serve to pinpoint and locate the sample at a later stage.

Bottles from all corners of the world participate in our wine challenges, which sometimes involves long and hectic transports. Therefore, the wines will be stored in a vertical position to ensure that any possible sediments are deposited at the bottom. There are different rooms for each category of wine, all of them with the corresponding light and temperature to ensure the best possible environment for the samples.

Thanks to our service WineShoot, all the wines received are photographed in high quality and even in 360°. The images are available to the participants free of charge, and they will be able to use them on their respective websites, social networks, magazines, etc. to promote their wines. The pictures will also be used to illustrate the award-winning wines on our results page.

The management team, in close collaboration with the experts of the OIV, the UIOE and the VINOFED, organizes and groups the “Flights” taking into account the characteristics of the wines. In this way, the tasting conditions are fair for all wines as the jurors will not be negatively affected by aspects such as variety, acidity, residual sugar and alcohol content.

Each evening, our workers prepare the Flights for the next day. On the busiest days, this used to mean more than 120 Flights consisting of up to 17 wines each! For several days, the wines will be tasted by an independent panel of experts consisting of oenologists, sommeliers, masters of wine, experienced traders, winegrowers, journalists, etc. The products will be rated according to the regulations and guidelines of OIV and UIOE, using the 100-point score system (blind tasting). That includes categories such as red wine, white wine, rosé wine, rotling, orange wine, vinho verde, sparkling wine (champagne, cava, prosecco, sekt, espumante, etc.), liquor / fortified wine (port, madeira, sherry, málaga, marsala, etc.) and more.

It must be said that the jurors do not know whether a wine will finally receive a medal or not, due to circumstances such as the “30% rule”. It is therefore impossible for them to influence the final results in any way. Both the team of notaries and the observers from the different entities, such as the OIV, watch to ensure that there are no irregularities at any stage of the process.

Quality is the most important element for us. The Berliner Wine Trophy was the first in the industry to introduce, among other things, the oenological analyses of the awarded wines and the notarial supervision. In contrast to other wine competitions, only the best 30% of the products tasted are finally awarded a medal (according to OIV standards). This does not reduce the value of the rest of the products, but it does accentuate the prestige of the medal and the great honor that it represents to receive it.