What is the real value of a gold medal?

Feind (Balatonfüred), Illés (Badacsony), Eszterbauer (Szekszárd)
 
The gold medal of an international wine competition is a source of pride, it looks good on social media, but it is much more than that. Feedback to the winery, confirmation to trade partners, strengthening of the brand in the eyes of customers—and often concrete, measurable sales growth as well. We talked to representatives of three wineries that excelled at the 5th Winelovers Wine Awards about the results of the results.
Opening photo: Pexels / Gustavo Fring
 

Respondent: Andrea Sajó, commercial director
 
1. How did you hear about the Winelovers Wine Awards and why did you decide to enter?
We have been entering this competition for a while, the feedback of the serious professional jury of the WWA is very important to us. International competitions are generally important to us, which is why we regularly enter the Decanter World Wine Awards and the Berliner Wine Trophy, but we are also always present at the Hungarian National Wine Competition.



2. A real shower of medals fell on you, 10 medals, wow! Knowing the jury members and seeing the rigor, this is very serious! Which of your results are you most proud of?
First of all, for the fact that 10 of the 10 nominated wines received medals! This is the first year that all our wines performed so well, we are very proud of it, especially seeing the line-up of professionals.
We are perhaps most proud of the gold-medal 2021 Merlot, a truly special wine that is not produced in every vintage, but only in the best years. The same wine received a gold medal at the National Wine Competition (2025), the VinAgora (2024) and the Berliner Wine Trophy (2026), while an earlier vintage, 2019 won gold medal at the Asian Wine Trophy.
It is also a great pleasure that our new Bollicine product line also brought such excellent results. These light aerated sparkling wines replaced the Play product line, the word bollicine means little bubble, and our Bollicine wines were well received by both the industry and the public.
 
3. Did you announce your results in some form? Have you shared them somewhere?
Of course, we always inform our resellers about the competition results, and our customers and followers learn about our successes on Instagram and Facebook. We primarily communicate gold medals, of course, we are also happy with silver and bronze medals, but we consider these to be more important professional feedback.
 
4. Has there been any concrete result of the successes? Any inquiry, perhaps Auchan selection or other?
Absolute! The above mentioned Feind Merlot will be included in Auchan's Christmas wine selection! If you want to put it under the Christmas tree, you should make an effort, because we only have 3,000 bottles left, and the next vintage will be 2025, which is still resting in the cellar.
But success has a concrete, tangible result, as a commercial director I can say that for sure. These successes are also felt in the sales of Metro and Lidl stores, but also in our webshop and wine shop.
More information about Feind Winery


Illés Winery, Badacsony

Respondent: Anita Illés, owner, winemaker
 
1. How did you hear about the Winelovers Wine Awards and why did you decide to enter?
There was a prize draw for the first Winelovers Wine Awards, I participated in it, and then the good news came that I could be there in person on the first day of the competition, and to my great joy I got a seat next to Julia Scavo. Since I started making wine at that time, it was a great joy for me. From the second WWA, we have been entering wines and participating in the Winelovers X event. All this because the judges are recognized foreign and Hungarian experts and wine merchants. It is also useful that after the WWA competition there is a connection between the wineries and the organizers, and a program is built around the competition, the Winelovers 100 grand tasting.



2. You closed this year's competition with amazing results: you won 6 medals. Which of your wines are you most proud of?
We are proud of the results of all our wines, but our greatest pride is probably Holdkő Olaszrizling ('Holdkő' means 'Moon-stone'), because every vintage of this wine has received a gold medal so far!
 
3. Have you announced your results in any form? Have you shared them anywhere?
For now, the results have only been published on our Facebook page, we should definitely communicate more about our successes, but unfortunately, we never have time for that.
 
4. Has there been any concrete result of the successes?
Yes, we met an importer at Winelovers X, which is how our wines ended up in Belgium. For several years now, Bert Lemahieu (Bíbor Wines) has been coming to taste us regularly, and this year he selected three of our wines, the 2025 vintage of Pinot Noir, the Zöldveltelini (Grüner Veltliner) and our white blend called Bori, which is a blend of Sárgamuskotály and Sauvignon Blanc. The fact that the sales of our gold medal winning wines are not showing much growth is also a consequence of not communicating the results emphatically enough, and we need to change this as well.
 
More information about Illés Winery

Eszterbauer Winery, Szekszárd

Respondent: Vivien Csatári, marketing manager

1. How did you hear about the Winelovers Wine Awards, and why did you decide to enter?
We’ve been participating in this competition since its inception, and there’s never been any question about entering because it’s an independent, high-caliber professional competition. As a result, the medals always serve as excellent feedback and give our winery a nice boost every year. In fact, we’re regular exhibitors at other Winelovers events as well—we really love the team and the entire Winelovers concept.



2. You won 5 medals at this year’s competition—2 gold and 3 silver. That’s a fantastic result—congratulations! Which of your wines are you most proud of?
Our Báró Steiner Bikavér has already performed exceptionally well at several international competitions, so the gold medal for this wine wasn’t such a surprise. What we’re particularly happy about right now is the gold medal for our Mesterünk wine, and our joy is all the greater because this 2024 vintage is the first to be made from organically grown Merlot—in other words, this is the first “organic” Mesterünk.

3. Did you publicize your results in any way? Did you share them anywhere?
Of course, we try to communicate on every platform; we’re active on social media—Facebook, Instagram—and we also shared the great results in our newsletter. We also have a TikTok campaign; we started posting there last year, and this year we’re ramping up our presence with snappy videos, since that’s really where we can reach Gen Z. TikTok is a whole different world; putting together a truly impactful video is a lot of work, and for now, we are able to post an average of one per week. Another new development is that this year we have launched our English-language newsletter for our export partners and prospective partners—and, of course, we shared the results of the Winelovers Wine Awards there as well.

4. Have these successes led to any concrete results?
Yes, this latest success was clearly reflected in our sales figures, but I’d also like to add that such achievements serve as excellent feedback for our partners as well. Those who stock our wines—whether in a wine shop or a restaurant—see from these successes that they made the right decision, and a highly reputable professional jury also validates their choice. And, of course, these gold and silver medals are also positive feedback for our customers.

More information about Eszterbauer Winery