Thessaloniki is once again positioning itself at the heart of the international wine map, as nearly 1,050 labels from Greece and Cyprus are judged by leading tasters from across Europe at the 26th “Thessaloniki Wine & Spirits Trophy”.
A total of 974 wines and 71 spirits are being judged over three days until 27 February, a slight increase on last year and a sign of sustained momentum in the country’s wine and distilling sectors. The samples are assessed by six separate panels comprising 30 distinguished tasters from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Greece and Cyprus.
Founded in 1999 and organised by the Winemakers of Northern Greece association, the Thessaloniki-based contest is a gateway for Greek and Cypriot producers seeking global recognition. At the helm is competition president Konstantinos Lazarakis, Greece’s first Master of Wine, joined by an elite line-up of Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers.
The five wine panels are chaired by Elizabeth Gabay MW, Eleftherios Chaniotidis MS, Natasha Hughes MW, Roderick Smith MW, president of the Institute of Masters of Wine, and Matthew Wilkin MS. The spirits panel is led by Andreas Matthidis DipWSET, principal of the Spirits School for WSPC educational programmes and founder and president of the Association of Greek Sommeliers.
Speaking to ANA-MPA, Lazarakis described this year’s edition as “a very important turning point for the competition”. The reason lies in the maturation of a trainee judge scheme designed to nurture the next generation of global wine professionals. Under the initiative, highly knowledgeable young candidates attend at their own expense, with the prospect that “if they do well, they will be invited to the competition next year as regular judges, of course, with all expenses paid”.
This year, the presence of trainee judges from northern Europe and as far as India, in Lazarakis’s words, is “a great medal of honour, of course not only for the competition, but for the Greek wine industry”. He added that anyone willing to commit to such a process “means that they love Greek wine. And that is, in my opinion, a top compliment for the competition”.
All entries are submitted via a dedicated digital platform, logged and double-coded before being divided into tasting flights and served blind. Judges score via an online application while recording detailed comments, which producers can later access for their own samples, reinforcing transparency and feedback. Results will be published on 28 February via the competition website, with the medal ceremony scheduled for 15 March in Athens alongside the Greek Wine Industry Award 2026.
Dining and Cooking