Wines That Set the Bar – Our 2025 Award Highlights
Wines That Set the Bar – Our 2025 Award Highlights
Once again in 2025, our wines soared to new heights. Whether it’s international wine critics or long-established wine guides here in Italy – year after year, our wines continue to climb and earn top recognition. Here are our standout highlights from this year!
DWWA: 1x Platinum and 2x Gold for Cantina Kurtatsch
We were left speechless by the news that reached us in mid-June: 1 Platinum and 2 Gold medals for our white wines at the 22nd edition of the Decanter World Wine Awards – the world’s largest and most influential wine competition, with 18,000 entries. Our FREIENFELD Chardonnay Riserva 2022 (Platinum) ranked as the best Chardonnay in Italy. Three other wines (KOFL Sauvignon 2023 – Gold, BRENNTAL Gewürztraminer Riserva 2022 – Gold, and PENON Pinot Grigio 2023 – Silver) ranked second-best in their categories. That makes us the 2nd-best winery in Alto Adige in terms of awards received – a result we’re immensely proud of. At the DWWA, 248 experts – including 72 Masters of Wine and 22 Master Sommeliers from 35 countries – taste wines blind in multiple rounds. So it's a huge honor that our wines stood out to such a high-caliber jury in a sea of global submissions.
Top Italian Honors for TRES, FREIENFELD & BRENNTAL
When it came to the Italian wine guides, red wine led the way! Our FREIENFELD, produced only in the best vintages since 1988, was one of the first red wines from Alto Adige to receive the prestigious “Tre Bicchieri” from Gambero Rosso. All the more fitting, then, that the new 2022 vintage – the first made by our new winemaker Erwin – has been awarded “Tre Bicchieri” as well! FREIENFELD also impressed the panel at Doctor Wine, earning 95 points and the coveted “Faccino”. BRENNTAL Merlot Riserva once again won over the Bibenda jury, receiving the “5 grappoli” award for the second year in a row – this time for the 2022 vintage. Our TRES 2018 earned the “Tre Stelle Oro” from I Vini di Veronelli. And in the Vitae wine guide from the Italian Sommelier Association (AIS), all three wines received the highest rating of “4 VITI”: TRES 2018, FREIENFELD Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva 2022, and BRENNTAL Merlot Riserva 2022. It’s yet more proof that the 2022 red vintage has delivered in spades – and that we in Kurtatsch know how to handle Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Falstaff Wine Guide 2026: Raising the Bar Again
In the Falstaff Italy Wine Guide 2026, we once again received four stars for our winery – and this year, a record 11! wines scored 92+ points! That’s a jump of two points compared to last year’s threshold of 90 – a clear sign of ongoing improvement. FREIENFELD Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva 2022 and BRENNTAL Merlot Riserva 2022 each gained another point, while AMOS 2023 saw an impressive two-point increase. Leading the pack once again was TRES 2018, with a fantastic 97 points.
International Media Praise: Forbes, Vinum & More
It’s also been a strong year for international media recognition. One of the most exciting mentions came from Forbes, which listed our FREIENFELD Chardonnay Riserva 2022 among the world’s top 10 Chardonnays. We were also delighted by several features celebrating the 30th anniversary of our BRENNTAL Merlot Riserva – especially the piece by Harald Scholl in Vinum. Vinepair included our KOFL Sauvignon 2022 among the 14 best white wines from Alto Adige and named our SONNTALER Schiava 2023 one of the region’s 10 best reds – just to name a few.
You can find a full overview of all awards here: to the awards list
This year’s accolades are not only a powerful affirmation of our path – they’re also a source of motivation. Our goal remains clear: to create wines with a strong sense of terroir and origin, that express the unique character of our vineyards with precision and authenticity. What makes us especially proud is the continued success of our Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon – varieties we’ve long believed in, and which are now gaining recognition far beyond Italy. All of this is made possible by the close collaboration within our team – and above all, by our members out in the vineyards. With deep-rooted expertise and meticulous hands-on work passed down through generations, they lay the foundation for the quality that defines Cantina Kurtatsch.