Second National Abkhazian Wine Competition Concludes with Award Ceremony

SUKHUM / AQW'A ― The second national Abkhazian wine competition came to a close with an award ceremony held on Friday, April 28, at the cultural and business platform "Guma". A total of 47 Abkhazian winemakers entered the competition, providing the "Wines and Waters of Abkhazia" company with 95 wine samples. Out of these, 24 samples from 15 winemakers were admitted to the competition tasting.

On April 26, a blind tasting was conducted by the members of the tasting committee, who then selected the winners of the competition. Nikolay Achba, General Director of the State Company "Wines and Waters of Abkhazia", expressed his delight at the continuation of the competition and the large number of participating Abkhazian winemakers. He shared his hope for the competition to eventually become international.

Achba also encouraged even more winemakers to participate in future events, emphasizing the supportive nature of the competition without any criticism or scolding. The awarding of the competition winners followed, with no Grand Prix awarded for the best white wine as none of the producers scored the required number of points from the jury members.

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Winners Announced in Various Categories at the Second National Abkhazian Wine Competition

The second national Abkhazian wine competition revealed its winners in various categories, with the following awards presented:

1. Hadzharat Kvitsinia received the Silver medal for the "Best Abkhazian White Wine 2023", made from the Noah grape variety.
2. The Bronze medal for the "Best Abkhazian White Wine 2023" went to Denis Amichba for his Rkatsiteli grape variety wine.
3. Denis Amichba also won the Gold medal for the "Best Abkhazian Red Wine 2023" with his Saperavi grape variety wine.
4. Adamur Akhba was awarded the Gold medal for the "Best Abkhazian Red Wine 2023" for his wine made from the Malbec grape variety.
5. Almas Adleiba earned the Silver medal for the "Best Abkhazian Red Wine 2023" with his Saperavi grape variety wine.
6. The Silver medal for the "Best Abkhazian Red Wine 2023" was also awarded to Khimtsa Kiut.
7. Sergey Gadliya received the Silver medal for the "Best Abkhazian Red Wine 2023".
8. Alkhas Dzhopua secured the Silver medal for the "Best Abkhazian Wine from Isabella Variety 2023".
9. Stanislav Agumava was presented with the Bronze medal for the "Best Abkhazian Wine from Isabella Variety 2023".
10. Hadzharat Kvitsinia won a special prize from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Abkhazia for her Noah grape variety wine.
11. Adamur Akhba received a special prize from the competition partner company "A-mobile" for his Malbec grape variety wine.

Following laboratory tests, 62 samples were eliminated. The competition featured several categories, including white wines, red wines, "Isabella", special prizes from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Achba family, and the best semi-sweet wine. The Grand Prix winner of the first competition was young winemaker Said Zvanbaia.