“Merano Wine Festival”: sentiment among vineyard and market, and awards to excellence

The good news coming mainly from vineyards across all over Italy, with reports of more complex harvests but still of great quality, despite a few fewer bunches (which, these days, isn’t necessarily a bad thing), and even of perfect vintages not seen for years, with the 2025 harvest considered by some to be among the best of the last 50 years; the concerns coming from the market, with wineries striving to look to the future with confidence but facing a tough scenario, marked by falling purchasing power, tariffs and various difficulties, which particularly affect red wine production and slow down sales and consumption across all price ranges; the views of leading Italian enologists on their favourite grape varieties and regions, but also on current issues such as the debate on no alcohol wines, the need to reduce Italian wine production volumes (even by uprooting a few hectares of vineyard), and not only: many topics explored by WineNews (as we will share in several videos in the upcoming days) at the “Merano Wine Festival” 2025, taking place today and tomorrow under the direction of its patron Helmuth Köcher.
A kermesse, that of Merano, which also featured many awards, including the “WineHunter Stars”, with WineNews director Alessandro Regoli honoured as “Wine & Food Journalist Star” for online journalism (wit the award delivered to Andrea Zingrossi, aka Trotterwine, one of Italy leading wine influencers with over 225,000 Instagram followers, ed), alongside other category awards (in an evening hosted by another wine influencer, Ilaria Cappuccini, aka just.saywine, with more than 175,000 followers), which went, among others, to enologist Franco Bernabei (also named one of the “10 Cult Oenologists” together with Nicola Biasi, Stefano Chioccioli, Riccardo Cotarella, Giuseppe Caviola, Luca D’Attoma, Emiliano Falsini, Carlo Ferrini, Donato Lanati and Vincenzo Mercurio), to Eleonora Cozzella, editor of “Il Gusto” for the Gedi group (“La Stampa” and “La Repubblica”), to the famous tenor and Tuscan wine producer Andrea Bocelli, to three-Michelin-starred chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo, to international critic James Suckling, to Sebastien Ferrara, head sommelier at Enrico Bartolini’s three-star restaurant at Mudec in Milan, and in memory of artist Riccardo Schweizer, who collaborated with names such as Picasso and Chagall and designed labels for the South Tyrolean winery Franz Haas during his life.
But, among the many awarded excellences, of course, also those for wine and food excellence, with the “WineHunter Awards Platinum”, the best of the best of the guide “The WineHunter” (full list in focus). With names ranging from San Michele Appiano to Terlano, from Tramin to Nals Margreid, from Paternoster and De Buris (Tommasi Family Estates), to Marisa Cuomo, from Berlucchi to Cabochon (Monte Rossa), from Ca’ del Bosco to Villa Bucci (Oniwines – Signorvino of the Veronesi family), from Borgogno to Marchesi di Barolo, from Argiolas to Tasca d’Almerita, from Il Borro to Isole e Olena, from Ridolfi to Tenute Lunelli – Tenuta Podernovo, and to Maso Martis, to name a few, as well as Nonino among spirits, and producers such as Ciro Flagella (one of the best tomato growers in the Abruzzi) and Royal Food Caviar (for fish products and Siberian caviar), from Luigi Guffanti 1876 to Salumi di Mare, among food names.
Among the many awards, also special recognitions, the “Honour Awards”, which went to Braida and the Bologna family (“alla Conquista” – “for Conquest”), to Consorzio del Vulture – the Vulture Consortium (“al Territorio” – “for Territory”), to Vivai Rauscedo (“all’Innovazione” – “for Innovation”), to South Tyrolean enologist Hans Terzer (“alla genialità” – “for Genius”), to the Ceraudo family of Azienda Agricola Ceraudo (“alla Famiglia” – “for Family”) and to Antichi Poderi Jerzu (“alla creatività” – “for Creativity”). Still, also the peculiarity of sweet wines was celebrated with the “Dolcissimo Awards”, which went, for South Tyrol, to Nals Margreid for Baronesse Alto Adige/Südtirol Moscato Giallo Doc 2022, and to Cantina Kurtatsch for Ushas Mitterberg Alto Adige/Südtirol Igt 2023, and for Italy, to Cantina Colosi with Na JM Malvasia delle Lipari Doc 202, and to Avignonesi with Vin Santo di Montepulciano Occhio di Pernice 2011.

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