ABAVAS winery is proud to announce that its red wine Rondo 2021 Reserve, made from grapes grown in Latvia, has become the first wine in the Baltics to win a bronze award at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).

This outstanding achievement is the result of careful grape variety selection, refinement of techniques and continuous growth over 15 years to create world-class wines, and Rondo is precisely one of those varieties, forming the basis for creating the high-quality Rondo 2021 Reserve wine.

Recognition of this calibre on the world stage is testament to the perseverance and high craftsmanship of ABAVAS winery in creating a grape wine able to compete with the finest wines in the world. Rich in aroma and saturated with expressive nuances of flavour, Rondo Reserve 2021 is made from carefully selected grapes and aged under special conditions, offering an unforgettable tasting experience and now also bringing honour to the Baltics, and to Latvia in particular, in the international world of wine.

What is the Decanter wine award?

The Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) is the world's leading and most widely recognised wine competition, founded in 2004. It is organised by "Decanter" magazine, one of the most influential publications in the wine industry. The award stands out for its rigorous judging process and high quality standards.

How are the wines that receive Decanter World Wine Awards honours judged?

The 2024 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) brought together hundreds of prominent wine experts and sommeliers from more than 33 countries, who carefully assessed over 18,000 wines in a blind tasting. All these wines were divided into categories by region, style and price and judged against several criteria, including aroma, flavour, structure and overall quality.

At each stage of the tasting, the judges assessed the wines individually using a 100-point system and entered their scores into a computer system. After the initial assessment, the panel chair led discussions among all panel members in order to determine the final score jointly and decide on the award of a medal – bronze, silver or gold. This careful and methodical approach guarantees that every awarded wine is proof of outstanding quality and a fine tasting experience.

About ABAVAS Rondo 2021 Reserve

In the overall standings of the Decanter World Wine Awards 2024, ABAVAS Rondo 2021 Reserve scored 87 points (out of 100) among more than 7,000 red wines judged in the competition, taking a bronze award and putting Latvia on the world wine map.

Rondo 2021 Reserve is a high-quality red wine made from Rondo grapes grown in Latvia, and this grape wine offers a rich, deep tasting experience with pronounced notes of dark berries. Cherry, pepper and chocolate stand out in the aroma. The grape wine is matured in a French oak barrel, which lends it pleasant tannins on the finish. Only the best grapes are used in the winemaking process to ensure outstanding quality and character of flavour.

A comment on the bronze award for Rondo 2021 Reserve from Niklass Dāgs Barkāns, Latvia's first qualified winemaker and viticulturist:

"When I heard about the award given to the Rondo 2021 Reserve red wine at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2024, I was very pleasantly surprised and had not expected that the first award of this level in the Baltics would go to a red wine we make. All the more so because in Latvia, where the climate differs from the traditional red wine producing countries, Rondo grape wine is created by following specific steps: the Rondo berries, which are characteristically high in acidity and low in sugar, are carefully harvested and separated from the stems, after which this de-acidified mass of berries and juice is placed on the skins, where it ferments slowly until it acquires the desired depth of flavour. The wine is then transferred to French oak barrels, where for three months it subtly absorbs the nuances of the oak and is enriched with new aromas. Once this process is complete, the wine is stored in stainless steel tanks, where it continues to mature and develop right up until bottling, and only then is it ready to reach shop shelves and delight wine lovers."

ABAVAS winery – pride in Latvia's wine traditions

ABAVAS winery is a project started by Mārtiņš Barkāns' family, which in 2010 planted a vineyard with 40 different grape varieties in the Sabile area. After several years of careful selection and assessment, and expansion of the roughly 4 ha vineyard, 8 grape varieties have been chosen as best suited to our northern climate for creating top-class, high-quality grape wines.

The main grape variety in the ABAVAS vineyard is Solaris, and the grape wine made from it received a silver medal at the "Latvijas Gada vīns 2023" competition. The second most widely represented grape variety is Rondo, from which the newly "Decanter"-awarded red wine Rondo 2021 Reserve is made, and alongside these varieties the vineyard in the ancient Abava valley also grows grape varieties suited to a northern climate: Zilga, Muscaris, Valiants, Skujiņš, Saint Pepin, Adalmīna.

The ABAVAS Rondo 2021 Reserve red wine is available to buy in the ABAVAS winery online shop, at the production site shop in Tukums, at "Kalējkrāmi" in Ārlavciems, Slampe parish, and through the distributor network throughout Latvia.