Volařík Winery Crowned 2025 Winemaker of the Year in the Czech Republic!

In the final stage of this competitive event, a group of expert judges from the well-known Tasters Club, which includes renowned wine evaluators and holders of the Master of Wine title, selected the winners from nine finalists. These finalists consisted of eight winemakers from the Czech Republic and one from Slovakia, all of whom advanced from an earlier round of the competition. After an exciting judging process, the Winemaker of the Year of the Czech Republic 2025 award was given to Winery Volařík from Mikulov. Besides this top honor, Volařík Winery also received the title of National Champion of White Wines for their Riesling Selection of Onions 2021.

The award for National Champion of Red Wines for 2025 went to Roman Beneš from Hrušek, located in the Břeclav region, for his Pinot Noir grape selection 2022. Additionally, the award for Most Successful Family Wineries was presented to Martin Čapka.

This year’s event also featured participation from Slovak wineries. The expert panel granted the title of Slovak Winemaker of the Year 2025 to Víno Matyšák from Pezinok. The title of Slovak National Champion of White Wines was awarded to the Ostrožovič Velká Trňa Winery, while the title of Slovak National Champion of Red Wines was given to Martin Pomfy from Vínosad.

Who were the contenders for this year’s title?

This year’s final featured a total of eight wineries, with the following finalists: Filip Mlýnek Winery, Volařík Winery, Family Winery Milan Sůkal, Vinař Jiří Uherek, Vinařství Čapka, Vinařství Štěpánek, Zámecké Vinařství Bzenec, Vinařství Zilvar, and Víno Matyšák from Slovakia.

Past winners of this title include Škrobák Winery, Víno J. Stávek, Vinselekt Michlovský, Bohemia Sekt, Znovín Znojmo, Château Valtice – Vinné sklepy Valtice, Bzenec Chateau Winery, Vican Family Winery, Reisten, and the twice-awarded Sonberk Winery, along with Thaya Winery. Last year’s champion was Jiří Uherek.

Winemaker of the Year 2025 of the Czech Republic

The Winemaker of the Year of the Czech Republic program has developed a strong reputation, becoming one of the most esteemed competitions in the country. Its tasting committees, which include international experts, ensure the evaluation meets high global standards. This competition is significant because it provides an impartial assessment of wine quality in an international context. When the competition was established two decades ago, the organizers aimed to create a model that evaluated not just individual wines, but also assessed the overall quality of each representative collection of wines.

The Winemaker of the Year competition awards gold, silver, and bronze medals in different categories while also evaluating the overall quality of every collection submitted by winemakers or wineries. From the first round of judging, the eight winemakers with the highest average scores advance to the grand finale. To fairly judge each winemaker’s comprehensive work, each collection must include wines from at least two categories. In the grand final, all wines are re-evaluated, regardless of their scores from the initial round.