Happy winners at EUROVINO 2026 at the Fair Wine Awards, Golden Grape Awards and New & Different Awards

Winemakers and wine producers, as well as representatives from the trade and gastronomy sectors, were delighted to receive prizes for their products or concepts.

New & different, the EUROVINO Innovation & Marketing Award, held for the second time

After the New & different format developed by Messe Karlsruhe celebrated its premiere at EUROVINO 2025, the EUROVINO Innovation & Marketing Award 2026 entered its second round and was presented on the Monday of the trade fair. The award focuses not on the product itself, but on marketing ‘outside and around the bottle’ in five categories. This year, the judging was again carried out separately by two committees: one consisting of a jury of experts (Experts' Choice) and the other of students from Heilbronn University (Young Choice) studying wine marketing and management. This gives participants in the award explicit feedback on how their submissions are received by the younger target group – and there is the possibility of winning twice in one category!

At the award ceremony on the Monday of the fair, the following companies and projects were delighted to receive the New & Different EUROVINO Innovation & Marketing Award:

Category Best Product Design:

• Experts' Choice: Frau Z. Kommunikationsdesign – Weinlinie Benique, Enzmann Winery
• Young Choice: Weingut Schlumberger – GUTedel Bag in Box

Category Best Packaging:

• Experts' Choice: Schenk GmbH – Masso Antico, Primitivo Salento IGT, “Ice”
• Young Choice: Staatliches Weinbauinstitut, Staatsweingut Freiburg – Mehrwegpfandflasche 0,5l

Category Best Product Presentation at POS:

• Experts' Choice: Weinton | WNTN – Die neue Leichtigkeit des Weins/ DPG-Weinpfandflasche (Innen Glas, Außenhülle aus recyceltem rPET)
• Young Choice: Weingut Ellermann-Spiegel – Vinothek „Windrose“

Category Best Marketing Campaign:

• Experts' Choice: Kuhn Weingut – Black Forest Spritz
• Young Choice: Manufaktur Jörg Geiger – Teasecco „Tradition auf Pfoten“

Category Best Innovation of the Year in Wine Marketing:

• Experts' Choice: Weinton | WNTN – DPG-Weinpfandflasche
• Young Choice: Weinton | WNTN – DPG-Weinpfandflasche

Golden Grape Awards from wein.plus celebrated their premiere at EUROVINO 2026

This year, the Golden Grape Awards from wein.plus were incorporated into the EUROVINO networking evening following the first day of the trade fair for the first time. These consist of five grape variety-related wine competitions for German-speaking countries, with the focus in the 2025/26 season on Silvaner, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Burgundy varieties and Blaufränkisch/Lemberger. For the five competitions, the full-time tasting team at wein.plus blind tasted and professionally evaluated a total of over 4,440 wines in the neutral tasting room in Erlangen over several months. Based on the points awarded, the wines received medals in various categories ranging from bronze to silver and gold to grand gold. At EUROVINO 2026 in Karlsruhe, the three wineries that won the most Grand Gold medals were finally honoured for each competition. More information about the winners of the Golden Grape Awards can be found online at wein.plus.

Fair Wine Awards complete the EUROVINO 2026 award portfolio

Under the motto ‘Fair has a future’, the Fair Wine Award is dedicated to the central tasks facing international viticulture in the face of climate change. The focus is on both ecological changes and social developments that require new approaches to cultivation and production.

With its fifth edition, the Fair Wine Award is consolidating its role as a recognised evaluation platform for forward-looking and sustainably produced wines. In addition to organic wines, wines from fungus-resistant and historic grape varieties are also considered. The spectrum also includes sparkling wines from traditional bottle fermentation and other processes, as well as innovative concepts – from experimental styles to natural and orange wines. Alcohol-free products in all categories are also included.

During EUROVINO 2026, visitors had the opportunity to taste the award-winning wines in a dedicated tasting zone. The winners were also honoured during the EUROVINO networking evening, where the best received their awards in their respective categories.

All award-winning wines and the associated wineries can be found here: Overview

On the Monday of the fair, the initiators of the Fair Wine Awards also named the Wine Retailer of the Year 2026 and the Wine Bar of the Year 2026.

The following retailers and restaurateurs were delighted to receive awards:

• Wine Retailer category: vinocentral GmbH, Darmstadt
• Online Retailer category: Silkes Weinkeller GmbH, Mettmann
• Wine bar category: Gräfes Wein & Fein, Radebeul
• Special jury prize: Weinkellerei Höchst, Frankfurt

Further information is available on the Fair Wine Awards website.

Congratulations to all the winners!