Castel Juval Unterortl Riesling is the best in Italy for the second consecutive year

The Alto Adige Val Venosta DOC Riesling Unterortl from the Castel Juval Unterortl winery has doubled down and has been named, for the second consecutive year, the best Italian Riesling at the 20th edition of the National Riesling Contest. The Val Venosta wine beat 42 wines from 6 Italian wine regions. Second place was shared by the Alto Adige DOC Riesling from Cantina Laimburg and the Langhe DOC Riesling from Massolino - Vigna Rionda. Fourth place went to the wines of Abbazia di Novacella and Falkenstein, followed by Lehengut (6), Jermann (7), Tenuta Strasserhof-Hannes Baumgartner (8), Pratello di Bertola Vincenzo and Francesco Moser (9 joint winners). The wine regions that participated in the competition placed at least one wine in the"Top 10” ranking. The prizes were awarded during the Merano WineFestival, founded by “The WineHunter”, Helmuth Köcher, which is held until November 10th in Merano. “This year we celebrate the twentieth edition of the competition, and are very pleased to see that interest among the producers is as high as ever”, Magdalena Pratzner, president of the Riesling Days and National Competition in Naturno, said. “This has emphasized how important our event is, since it has now become a benchmark for the Italian wine industry”.
Further, the forty-three wines that participated in the competition were tasted by a jury of experts, which was made up of 20 members including oenologists, sommeliers and critics. The selection of wines was exceptionally broad, from a geographical point of view as well. The competing wines represented 6 Italian wine regions. “We believe it is essential that as many winemaking areas as possible can participate in the competition cultivation, because it offers producers the opportunity to compare their wines with those from different terroirs as well as to exchange experiences with colleagues from other regions, and build relationships for the future”, Magdalena Pratzner said. Per tradition, the regional winners are also awarded prizes in the National Riesling Competition. The requirement for receiving the title award is participating with at least 4 wines from each wine region. This year’s winners are Castel Juval Unterortl (Alto Adige), Massolino - Vigna Rionda (Piedmont), Francesco Moser (Trentino) and Pratello di Bertola Vincenzo (Lombardy).
The Naturno competition offers a comprehensive overview of the Italian Riesling production that, to date, extends over a total vineyard area of approximately 1.460 hectares. Lombardy has the highest vineyard area at 300 hectares, followed by Alto Adige at 110 hectares and Trentino at 46 hectares.