Andrea Sartori, at the helm of Casa Vinicola Sartori, awarded with the “Meininger Award”

Even in Covid's time, the world of wine critics and awards is trying to move forward, even internationally. And, in the German market, among the most important for the wineries of the Belpaese, the prestigious “Meininger Award, Excellence in Wine & Spirits”, signed by the most important German wine & food publishing group, still reward Italy, with Andrea Sartori, at the helm of Casa Vinicola Sartori, one of the most important names of Veneto and Valpolicella wine, nominated “International Wine Entrepreneur of the Year”.
Among the reasons, mentioned in the award ceremony staged in Dusseldorf in recent days (with a revised ceremony due to Covid, but traditionally staged in the days of ProWein, ed), which led to the choice of Andrea Sartori, explains a press note, “his constant commitment not only to the growth and innovation of his company but, like few others, also to the improvement of the entire Italian wine sector. This is witnessed by the numerous leading roles played in organizations such as Unione Italiana Vini, Confederazione della Vite e del Vino, Consorzio di Tutela dei Vini della Valpolicella, Federdoc, Consorzio Italia del Vino and others”.
“This recognition makes me very proud: I feel the ambassador of all the efforts of my collaborators and my family - commented Andrea Sartori - who are part of this journey that has lasted over 120 years. It is to them that I will bring this award. I have spent most of my career trying to bring together Italian producers and create synergies between wineries. You know how difficult it is, but I will continue to work on this front. From a personal point of view, receiving this award in such a disastrous and frustrating year gives me the energy to face all the challenges that the future will present us”.
A prize, the one Meininger awarded to Sartori, which is in the wake of the awards that have arrived for Italy in recent years, as in 2019, with the “Wine Family of the Year” award for the Italian-American family Mariani, creator and guide of Castello Banfi in Montalcino, and the “Lifetime Achievement” for Gaetano Marzotto, with Santa Margherita, or in 2017, where two other case histories of made in Italy, that of the historic Frescobaldi family, and that of the Nonino family, at the helm of the famous Friulian distillery, took the stage.
Among the winners of the 2020 edition of the award, in addition to Andrea Sartori, the recognition as “German Wine Entrepreneur of the Year” to Christoph Mack of Mack & Schühle, one of the most important wine distribution companies (with Italian brands in the portfolio such as Zonin, Fontanafredda, Corvo or Cantine Riunite, but also giants such as Gallo, Barefoot or Casillero del Diablo, among others), and again the “Lifetime Achievement Award” to the producer Patrice Monmousseau, at the helm of the Bouvet-Ladubay winery, in the Loire, the recognition of “Wine Family of the Year” to the González family of González Byass, among the most important realities in Spain, while Cointreau is the “Spirit Brand of the Year”, and the Austrian producer Willi Bründlmayer, of Bründlmayer Winery, is the winner of the “Honorary Prize”.