Five top wineries including Provence’s flagbearer of high-end rose Domaines Ott, Alsace’s iconic Trimbach winery and Spain’s historic Bodegas Faustino will vie for the much coveted “European Winery of the Year” award at the Wine Enthusiast’s 23rd Annual Wine Star Award.
The winner of the award along with 12 other categories, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award, American Wine Legend and Wine & Culture Honoree, will be announced in the magazine’s Best of Year issue and celebrated at its annual black-tie gala in January 2023.
Here is a quick look at the all the nominees, and may the best wins. Full list of nominees for all categories can be viewed here.
Domaines Ott
One of the original and leading producers of high-end Provençal rosé, Domaines Ott has been at the forefront of the surge in popularity of rosé wines in the U.S. and around the world. The company’s three main estates, Château de Selle, Clos Mireille and Château Romassan, each produce a rosé as well as red and white wines. In recent years, the company has been credited with setting a new standard for ultra-premium rosé with its Etoile wine that is produced with an artisan-vigneron approach and represents the very best of all three estates.
The wine is imported in Hong Kong exclusively by Links Concept.
Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine
The Veronese wine company founded in 1925 and still owned by the Pasqua family could be considered an international research laboratory. The business employs staff from nine different nationalities spanning five continents—all who foster an open-ended discussion on making the best wine possible. After adopting a new motto, “House of the Unconventional,” the winery has pushed the boundaries of winemaking styles and traditions and that has helped it win new fans in the pivotal U.S. and Asian markets.
Trimbach
The Trimbach family has been at the center of wine production in Alsace, France, since 1626, spanning 14 generations. Comprising more than 130 acres, the Trimbach estate has been farmed organically since 1972 and more than one third of the estate is Grand Cru vineyards. The winery is the leading supplier of Alsatian wines to the U.S. market and its Riesling and Pinot Gris wines are widely lauded as being some of the finest examples of the varietals produced anywhere in the world.
Bodegas Faustino
After celebrating its 160th anniversary in 2021, Bodegas Faustino, located in Oyón, Rioja Alavesa, is another European winery with a long history that has kept pace with the trends of the global market and is lauded as one of “First Families of Rioja.” The winery is the largest vineyard landowner in Spanish region with more than 1,300 acres, providing it with nearly half of the total market share of Rioja Gran Reserva wines and a leading Rioja brand in the U.S. market.
Vigneti Massa
The iconoclastic winemaker Walter Massa is often referred to as a genius, but in the late 1980s and ’90s many questioned his judgement for working with a nearly forgotten—and almost—extinct white grape known as Timorasso. What may have seemed like a foolhardy pursuit then has become incomparably astute now, as the grape in Massa’s talented hands has proved to be an outstanding signature white for the Piedmont region. Massa has helped save several other subalpine grapes in subsequent decades as well.
