SALON - The Competition

210 wines will be chosen by an independent jury in a blind tasting, selected from among the award winners at competitions in their respective Austrian federal states. SALON jurors must be able to substantiate their experience as official tasters or provide a history of training comparable to that of a Weinakademie Österreich graduate. In addition, each year a SALON tasting training programme – featuring selected vinous problems – is conducted to keep tasters up to speed with stylistic developments on the Austrian wine scene. The forty so-called fixed places are selected according to the vote of journalists, specialist magazines and sommeliers, of which the ten most frequent nominations constitute the circle of the select. Sparkling wines can be submitted by any wine producer in Austria. They are subsequently evaluated by experienced tasters, and only the twenty best Sekts manage to advance to the SALON. This results in an exciting interfusion each year in the SALON Österreich Wein – the most demanding  wine competition in the country.

Every year, the 270 best wines for the SALON Österreich Wein are determined in a multi-stage procedure. Forty so-called fixed places are selected by the vote of journalists, specialist magazines and sommeliers, of which the ten most frequent entries represent the circle of the select. Another 210 wines are chosen by an independent jury by means of a blind tasting. These wines will be selected from the award winners in their respective Austrian state competitions. Sparkling wines can be submitted by any wine producer in Austria. They are subsequently evaluated by experienced tasters, and only the twenty best Sekts manage to advance into the SALON.