2026-08-26
The WineHunter has put its 2026 award collection online, publishing this year’s Rosso and Gold winners across wine, food, spirits and beer, while leaving its top Platinum honors to be announced later at a separate ceremony in Rome.
The new collection went live on August 18 on winehunter.it, according to organizers. It brings together the results of a year-long tasting and evaluation process carried out by 16 WineHunter Excellence juries working across Italy under the leadership of founder Helmuth Köcher. The process was coordinated by Italian food and wine journalist and critic Andrea Radic and supported by a network of WineHunter scouts.
The selection remains centered on wine, but it also covers food, beer and spirits. Organizers said more than 7,000 wines were tasted for the 2026 edition. Of those, 2,662 received the WineHunter Award Rosso, given to wines scoring from 90 to 92.99 points. Another 1,506 wines received the WineHunter Award Gold, for scores from 93 to 94.99 points.
Outside the wine category, tasting panels evaluated 1,245 products in food, beer and spirits. Organizers said 371 of those entries received the Rosso award and 324 received the Gold award.
The next stage of the program will focus on Platinum, the highest award in the WineHunter system. This year, 213 wines and 96 products from the food, beer and spirits categories have been named as candidates. The winners are scheduled to be revealed on October 7 during a dedicated awards ceremony in Rome. Organizers said that will be the first time the Platinum recipients are announced at a stand-alone event in the Italian capital.
The online launch gives producers, buyers and industry professionals an early look at the final lists before the autumn festival season begins. It also reinforces the role the award collection plays inside the broader WineHunter and Merano WineFestival network. According to the organization, inclusion in the WineHunter Award Collection is the condition for taking part in Merano WineFestival, one of Italy’s established food and wine events. Only products and producers selected for the collection are eligible to participate in the festival.
The WineHunter system has expanded well beyond its original function as a tasting competition. Organizers describe it as a method for recognizing product quality and helping producers position themselves in the market. The project now includes a network of 32 WineHunter ambassadors working in more than 50 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Their role, according to the organization, is to promote selected products internationally and connect producers with importers, distributors, restaurateurs, retailers and consumers.
Köcher said the selection is intended to recognize producers who show consistency, quality and long-term vision. In comments released with the launch, he said the level reached by this year’s entries was especially high and added that some scores reached the maximum 100 points for the first time. He did not identify those products in the release, and the Platinum winners have not yet been disclosed.
The WineHunter awards are issued in a tiered structure that organizers use to distinguish between very highly rated entries and the small group considered for the top distinction. The Rosso and Gold levels are already public in the online collection, while Platinum remains a final competitive round among the highest-rated entries. That structure gives the October announcement added weight for producers seeking visibility in international markets, especially those using the award circuit and Merano WineFestival as a route to buyers and media attention.
The release was issued from Merano on August 20 and framed the 2026 collection as the result of a nationwide effort rather than a single judging session. Organizers said the juries worked throughout the year in different Italian regions. That broader structure reflects how many wine and food evaluation systems now operate, combining regional scouting, multiple tasting panels and centralized coordination to manage large numbers of entries across several product categories.
The numbers published this week show that the collection remains heavily weighted toward wine. Even so, the food, spirits and beer side of the program continues to occupy a visible place in the platform and in the final awards calendar. The 96 non-wine Platinum candidates suggest the organizers are trying to keep those categories integrated into the same quality and branding system rather than treating them as separate competitions.
For producers, the publication of the Rosso and Gold results offers immediate promotional value because it places their names inside an online catalog that can be searched by trade professionals and consumers. For importers and distributors, the platform creates a single reference point for products that have already passed through a formal review process. For the organizers, it also serves as a feeder into Merano WineFestival, linking the awards directly to event participation and, by extension, to commercial exposure.
Ticket sales, trade accreditation and press accreditation for Merano WineFestival are already open through the festival’s official website, organizers said.