Fair Wine Award
„The international competition for sustainable and environmentally friendly wines.“
unique . fair . international .
Under the motto “Fair has a future”, the international wine competition “Fair Wine Award” presents the challenges facing global viticulture in terms of climate change and adaptation to changing natural and social challenges.
These include wines from the traditional, classic grape varieties as well as wines from grape varieties that come from new grape varieties, are considered robust and vital, have special characteristics in terms of resistance to vine diseases, come from sustainable production or are to be regarded as historical grape varieties of a wine-growing region.
What they all have in common is that the grape varieties are adapted in a special way to the respective market and environmental conditions and enable a natural, environmentally friendly, sustainable and culturally valuable wine production.
With the “Fair Wine Award”, the organizers promote qualitative competition among producers and at the same time o ers an attractive opportunity to increase the recognition of wines and improve marketing.
A jury of experienced and professionally recognized wine experts and scientists guarantees an independent and technically accurate evaluation of the submitted wines. The awards for the individual wines thus receive a high reputation and recognition.
The following advantages await you:
- Their wines are judged qualitatively by an independent and knowledgeable jury of experienced wine experts and scientists headed by Dr. Hermann Pilz. This provides you with an objective assessment.
- Winning wines will be awarded at the same time as EUROVINO (March 1 + 2, 2026) and presented to the public from retail and gastronomy in a tasting zone.
- All winning wines will be featured prominently on Instagram & Co (including free photos)
- Participation includes free marketing & public relations and is a door-opener into the German wine trade!
Dates & Data
- We will shortly be publishing the dates for the Fair Wine Award 2026
Approved wine categories
| RES | Wines from climate- and fungus-resistant grape varieties and new varieties. |
| AFTER | Wines from environmentally friendly and sustainable production as well as organic wines (all grape varieties are permitted). |
| HIS | Wines from historical grape varieties that were known as grape varieties before 1900, under 1,000 hectares of vineyards. |
| SKF | Sparkling wines (from traditional, classic bottle fermentation, Method Rurale, Methodo Antico and Pétillant Naturel) |
| SMC | Sparkling wines with designation of origin and single vineyard designation (also Charmat method) |
| NOE | Natural wines, orange wines, experimental wines and wines from alternative fermentation and ageing containers such as amphorae, concrete cisterns, etc. |
Results
New: Categories expanded!
correctly . now . immediately .
Jury
„Our wine jurors are experienced tasters with years of jury experience and are committed to a fair competition.“
experienced . professional . conscientious .
The tasting and evaluation of the submitted wines will be carried out by a professional, experienced jury of recognized wine experts and trained wine experts.
The samples are tasted covertly and evaluated sensorially according to the internationally recognized 100-point scheme.
The jury members receive the necessary information for the tasting of each individual wine, such as vintage and grape variety, which, however, does not allow identification of the individual wine.
In addition, the tasters receive further information on the production and marketing of the wine, which is carried out according to the entrant and/or the proposal of the jury board. This information also does not allow identification of the individual wine, but gives the taster information on how and for what marketing purpose a wine was produced.
The tasting for the 3rd FairWineAward took place on February 17, 2024 in Karlsruhe, at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Center.
The jurors were:
| Renate Liebl | Lieber Liebls. Hirschegg (Austria) | info@lieberliebls.at |
| Anita Dietrich | Oenologist | |
| Michael Reuther, Dr. | Expert for wine & pricing, Neustadt a.d.W. | dr.michael.reuther@gmail.com |
| Inge Mainzer | Master in Wine, Ernst/Mosel | post@ingemainzer.de |
| Denis Duhme | Wine Intensive, Berlin/Tegernsee | denis.duhme@weinintensiv.de |
| Florian Schwander | JKI Federal Research Institute for Grapevine Breeding, Geilweilerhof | florian.schwander@julius-kuehn.de |
| Hermann Pilz | Tasting management | hermann.pilz@wsi-pilz.com |
| Johannes Radtke | Sommelier Union/Regional Speaker North Rhine-Westphalia | Johannes.radke@sommelier-union.de |
| Emrah Isitmen | Sommelier | emrahisitmen@gmail.com |
Results
comprehensible . transparent . current .
In order to ensure high-quality and recognized competition, the percentage of award-winning products will be limited to a maximum of 40 percent of the wines submitted to the competition. The following award levels will be awarded to the award-winning wines:
- Fair Wine Award 6 stars
- Fair Wine Award 5 stars
- Fair Wine Award 4 stars
- Fair Wine Award 3 stars
- Fair Wine Award Fair Buy
| Quality grading / description | Points on the 100 scale | Number of stars |
|---|---|---|
| defective, insufficient | 50-65 points | |
| weak, with defects | 66-71 points | |
| sufficient | 72-75 points | |
| recommendable | 76-84 points | Fair Buy |
| very good | 85-89 points | 3 stars |
| excellent | 89-94 points | 4 stars |
| top, world class | 95-97 points | 5 stars |
| unique | 98-100 points | 6 stars |
Special Awards
In addition to the awards and medals awarded, the jury awards a prize for:
- The best wine, sparkling wine of the category
- The best producer, with the most and highest rated wines
- Other special categories
- The jury can award “Fair Buy” or “Best Fair Buy” to wines that are rated satisfactory or good.
Winner of the Fair Wine Award 2025
The Fair Wine tasting zone at EUROVINO 2025
