The Abrau-Durso Group wines received the high awards at the Korea Wine Challenge 2023

At the largest Korean professional tasting competition held in Seoul, the Abrau-Durso sparkling and still wines were awarded five awards - one gold, three silver and one bronze medal. The Abrau-Durso wines became the first Russian winners of the Korean Wine Challenge awards.

This year's competition is one of the largest in the competition's nineteen-year history, with 808 wines exhibited in 2023. The tasting program included wines from the most famous world wine regions - France, Italy, Spain, Chile and others. This year still and sparkling wines of various styles were judged by a panel of 51 top Korean sommeliers. The Abrau-Durso wines have become the only Russian wines in the entire history of the competition that have won prizes and received high ratings from experts.

The sparkling wine of the Vedernikov Winery, part of the Abrau-Durso Group, - Sibirkovy/Tsimlyansky Black Extra Brut of the 2019 harvest was awarded the gold medal. The experts awarded him a high score of 91.25 points, especially noting the high organoleptic qualities. Fresh sparkling wine is an assemblage of unique Russian grape varieties created using the classic champagne technology. Elegant sparkling wine is distinguished by a complex fruit and citrus bouquet with subtle notes of grapefruit, pineapple, nectarine and duchess pear.

Three samples at once received silver awards: the classic monosort sparkling wine Brut d'Or Blanc de Noirs of the 2019 harvest from Abrau-Durso pinot noir grapes, which scored a high 88.5 points, the Tsimlyansky black rose brut of the 2020 harvest from Vedernikov Winery with 88 points and the Aghdam port wine of 2017, produced by Abrau-Durso under the Az Abrau brand in Azerbaijan, which experts rated at 88.75 points. The deep, harmonious taste of the legendary Agdam port wine and the multifaceted aroma with notes of nuts and candied fruits are a reflection of the historical recipe under the Abrau-Durso quality mark.

The bronze medalist in the competition was the 2023 novelty — Brut d'Or Riesling of the 2020 harvest, which received 86.75 points. The multifaceted sparkling wine interprets in a modern and creative way the features of the Riesling classic European grape variety, grown in the conditions of the Abrau-Durso terroir.

“Participation in international tasting competitions for many years has been a great opportunity for us to demonstrate the quality of wines of the Abrau-Durso Group. In the most reputable competitions, we were not only on the same level with the leading manufacturers of the Old World, but sometimes we surpassed them, taking higher places according to professional critics. Today, when the doors of European competitions are closed for us, we are looking for new opportunities to present our wines to the competent jury. We are very pleased to have won the Korea Wine Challenge, a new foreign tasting competition for us, where we presented wines for the first time and immediately received five awards. The golden jury awarded the Vedernikov Winery sparkling wine from the Don grape varieties “Sibirkovy” and “Tsimlyansky Black". This victory and the high assessment of experts once again demonstrated the huge potential of Russian autochthonous varieties," comments Pavel Titov, President of the Abrau—Durso Group.

During its nineteen-year history, the KWC competition has established as the most influential tasting competition in Korea. Its main goal is to acquaint distributors and consumers with a variety of quality wines from different regions, the high level of which is confirmed by the country's leading experts. The competition is organized by the leading Korean wine magazine Wine Review.

All wines submitted to the competition are classified by type, style and region. Among the key parameters of the expert jury's assessment are the color of the wine, its aromatics, taste features, as well as harmony and balance.