Hungarian winery gets two gold and one silver medal at the Champagne & Sparkling World Championships

Almost a thousand champagnes from twenty-one countries competed for medals at the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships (CSWWC) this year. CSWWC is the most prestigious international competition for only champagnes and sparkling wines. 

This year saw close to 1000 sparkling wines judged over 11 days from 21 different countries with Australia, France and Italy submitting their most entries since the competition began.

Italy once again took the top of the leader board for the most medals triumphing with 53 Gold and 129 Silver medals, but France took home the most Gold medal’s this year with 55 Golds and 48 Silver medals.

For the first time we saw Australia take third place on the medal leader board, Followed by the UK, USA and Spain.

While France and Italy continue to dominate in terms of the number of their entries, the diversity of entries the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships receives from countries and regions around the world is second to none.

Sauska’s medals

This year, after an 11-day blind tasting marathon, 147 gold and 249 silver medals were awarded, of which two gold and one silver went to the Sauska winery in Tokaj, which also became the most successful Hungarian winery.

Sauska Brut repeated its success last year, and this time Sauska Brut Magnum also joined the ranks of the gold medal winners. Like last year, Sauska Rose Brut won a silver medal again.

All three sparkling wines are made the traditional way, with bottle fermentation and aging. The specialty of the lots is that they are made exclusively from grapes harvested in Tokaj. Besides Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the presence of the native Furmint varietal is decisive in all three blends.

The specialty of Sauska Brut Magnum is that it is matured in a 1.5-liter bottle which is the most ideal when it comes to classic sparkling wines. Its explosive freshness and fruitiness are due to this, while its delicate elegance is the result of 4 years of maturation.

According to the jury, Sauska Brut is “full of energy, fresh, smooth and feisty sparkling wine, with ripe pear drops, and elegant, fine, soft mousse.” In the evaluation of Sauska Rose Brut, the wine`s “friendly, easygoing character and complex fruitiness” were highlighted.

“I consider it extremely important to continuously compete internationally because they help us understand where we stand and what our chances are on the global market field. It seems that Tokaj Hegyalja has a place on the map of sparkling wines which is a great pleasure and real perspective for us.”

– emphasized Krisztián Sauska, founder of the family winery.

Read alsoThe history of the beautiful Hungarian vineyards