The 24th “Thessaloniki Wine and Spirits Trophy” competition, organized by the “Northern Greece Vineyard Wine Producers Association”, took place on February 13, 14 and 15, 2024 in Thessaloniki, under the auspices and cooperation of all the relevant bodies in Greece, under the supervision of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food and the General State Chemistry Laboratory.

President of the Competition, Master of Wine Konstantinos Lazarakis.

The organizing committee of this year’s event consists of representatives of the following bodies: National Interprofessional Organization of Vine and Wine (EDOAO), Greek Wine Association (SEO), Central Cooperative Union of Vine and Wine Products (KEOSOE), Wine Producers’ Association of Northern Greece Vineyards (ENOABE), Wine Producers’ Association of Peloponnese Vineyards (ENOAP), Winemakers’ Network of Crete (DOK), Winemakers’ Association of Attica Vineyards (ENOAAA), Winemakers’ Association of Central Greece Vineyards (ENOAK), Winemakers’ Association of Aegean Islands Winemakers and Winegrowers (ENOANA), Association of Greek Spirits & Alcoholic Beverages Association (S.E.A.O.P.), Union of Greek Oenologists.

During the competitive part of the 24th Thessaloniki Wine & Spirits Trophy, 30 renowned tasters-judges from Greece and abroad, Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers, oenologists, sommeliers and wine journalists, divided into 6 committees, tasted 952 samples, from Greece and Cyprus. Of these, 881 are wines while 71 are spirits.

The judging panels were:

GROUP 1-WINE PANEL

MATTHEW WILKIN – MASTER SOMMELIER-DIPWSET- CHAIRPERSON

KONSTANTINOS KOSMOPOULOS

LOUKAS PAPALOUKAS

EFI TSURNAVA

NIKOS TZAVELLAS

MARGARITA KOUMPIOU-Associate Judge

GROUP 2-WINE PANEL

ERIC ZWIEBEL – MASTER SOMMELIER – CHAIRPERSON

ALEXANDRA BASPANELOU

ALEXANDROS BOUZIKAS

MARGARITA VOYIATZI

KONSTANTINOS PAPPAS

YOTA KARANATSIOU-Associate Judge

GROUP 3-WINE PANEL

AINA MEE MYHRE – MASTER OF WINE – CHAIR

ARIS TSELEPOS

EVA MARKAKIS

CHLOE HATZIVARYTI

LIZA VITZILAIOU

ASPASSIA TSIKNA-Associate Judge

GROUP 4-WINE COMMITTEE

JONAS ROJERMAN – MASTER OF WINE – CHAIR

PSOFIDIS EVANGELOS

DIMITRIS MOTSOS

MARKOS ZAMPARTAS

NIKOLAOS AGORASTOS

GEORGIA MAROULI-Associate Judge

GROUP 5-WINE COMMITTEE

RONAN SAYBURN – MASTER SOMMELIER – CHAIR

ARISTOTELIS SKLAVENITIS

DIMITRIS GRIZAS

THANOS GEORGILAS

APOSTOLOS PLACHOURAS

EKATERINA MOROZ-Associate Judge

GROUP 6-SPIRITS-OUZO-GIN COMMITTEE

ANDREAS MATTHIDIS DipWSET – CHAIRMAN

MEROPI PAPADOPOULO

DESPOINA BOUZA

STEFANOS KOGIAS

PANAGIOTIS FRAGOS

FATIONA PUPULEKU-Associate Judge

Among the trainee judges, Associate Judges, Ms. Aspasia Tsikna was evaluated with the best performance with a prize of her participation as a judge in the next event.

The 6 judging panels operated under the supervision of a chairman and a support team:

Competition Chairman: Konstantinos Lazarakis Master of Wine

Chairman’s support team:

Alexandra Anthidou – Head of the Organizing Committee

Klairi Efkarpidou – Representative of EDOAO

Anastasia Georganta – Representative of SEAOP

Thanos Karathanos – Representative of SEAOP

Anastasios Kanellis – Representative of the Panhellenic Union of Greek Oenologists

Efi Hatzidimitriou – Agriculturist-Oenologist, Asst. Professor, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemistry

Dimitris Kissas – Representative of ENOAP

Yiannis Albanis – Representative of ENOABE

Kyriaki Panagiotou – Representative of ENOABE

Representative of the General State Chemistry Office

Yiota Manara – Chemist – Chemical Laboratory of Central Macedonia

Representative of the Ministry of Rural Development & Food

Georgos Bouritis – Department of Vine, Wine & Spirits, Directorate of Food Exploitation & Technology

 

Of the trainee judges, Associate Judges, Ms. Aspasia Tsikna was evaluated with the best performance with a prize of her participation as a judge in the next event.

The 6 judging panels operated under the supervision of a chairman and a support team:

Competition Chairman: Konstantinos Lazarakis Master of Wine

Chairman’s support team:

Alexandra Anthidou – Head of the Organizing Committee

Klairi Efkarpidou – EDOAO Representative

Anastasia Georganta – SEAOP Representative

Thanos Karathanos – SEAOP Representative

Anastasios Kanellis – Representative of the Panhellenic Union of Greek Oenologists

Efi Hatzidimitriou – Agriculturist-Oenologist, Asst. Professor, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Chemistry

Dimitris Kissas – Representative of ENOAP

Yiannis Albanis – Representative of ENOABE

Kyriaki Panagiotou – Representative of ENOABE

Representative of the General State Chemistry Office

Yiota Manara – Chemist – Χ.Υ. Central Macedonia

Representative of the Ministry of Rural Development & Food

George Bouritis – Department of Vine, Wine & Spirits, Directorate of Food Exploitation & Technology

The tasters, appreciating the high level of the competing samples, awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals according to the following distribution per country:

WINE
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Total
Medals Participation

Greece 61 191 373 625 829

Cyprus 1 10 27 38 52

Totals 62 201 400 663 881

WINE SPIRITS-OUZO-GIN
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Total
Medals Participations

Greece 9 14 20 43 68

Cyprus 1 1 1 3 3

Totals 10 15 21 46 71

It is noted that 75% of the wines and 65% of the spirits that participated in the competition were awarded a medal, which proves the upgraded quality of the wines and spirits that participate every year in the Thessaloniki Wine and Spirits Trophy 2024.

BEST WINE OF THE COMPETITION

For the award of the distinction: BEST WINE OF THE COMPETITION, the best wines of each category, if they obtained a gold medal score, were re-evaluated by all the judges. In this year’s event, the following wine was awarded the distinction of the best wine of the competition:

Ktima Argyrou Cuvee Monsignori Santorini 2019 Ktima I. & M. Argyrou O.E.

BEST WINE BY CATEGORY

The entries in the Thessaloniki Wine and Spirits Trophy are divided into 6 categories: White, Rosé and Red still wines, Dessert Wines, Sparkling Wines and Retsines. The best wines per category were re-evaluated by all the judges and the following distinctions were awarded for the best wine per category:

Best Red Wine: Megas Oinos 2020 – Skouras O.A.A.E.

Best Rosé Wine: Domaine Alpha Rosé 2023 – Domaine Alpha S.A.

Best White Wine: Domaine Argyrou Cuvee Monsignori Santorini 2019 Domaine I. & M. Argyrou S.A.

Best Dessert Wine: Samos Vin Doux – E.O.S. Samou

Best Sparkling or Semi-Sparkling Wine: Sparkling Douloufaki – Douloufakis N. Monoposi IKE

Best Retsina: Kehribari – S. Kehri & Co. S.A.

BEST DISTILLED OF THE COMPETITION

Meteoro Winery Distillery – Tsinas Vassilios & Co. S.A.
Tsipouro without anise

BEST OUZO OF THE COMPETITION

Ouzo of Tyrnavos – Agricultural Winemaking Cooperative of Tyrnavos

For SPECIAL AWARDS, all RESULTS, SPONSORS and all information about the 24th Thessaloniki Wine & Spirits Trophy, visit the website: www.tiwc.gr

The award ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 2nd in Athens, together with the awarding of the Panhellenic Sommelier Competition.

At the beginning of the ceremonies, the “Greek Wine Industry Award 2024” will be presented to the Greek Ambassador of Greek Wine in Germany, Mr. Evangelos Pattas.