BUEGay Great Wine Capitals announced the “Best of” winners

[alfredo ferreyra]

BUEGay Great Wine Capitals announced the “Best of” winners

19 companies from Mendoza, Argentina, were awarded for their excellent performance in the field of wine tourism. The winners of each category are published below.

Mendoza, Argentina, dressed up to present the 2012 “Best of Wine Tourism” awards, which gathered important provincial authorities and local business people.

50 nominees, with their wine-tourism related projects, participated in this contest. Wineries, hotels and restaurants, among others, achieved Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals. A jury, made up of designers, tourism experts, journalists, architects and other local professionals, was in charge of the selection of the best services.

Every year, these recognitions are granted by The Great Wine Capitals Global Network, to which Mendoza (Argentina) belongs together with Bordeaux (France), San Francisco-Napa Valley (United States), Porto (Portugal), Bilbao-Rioja (Spain), Cape Town (South Africa), Firenze (Italy), Mainz (Germany), and Christchurch- South Island (New Zealand).

The Awards

Before mentioning the award-winning companies, it is worthy explaining that the projects were classified by seven categories, in which different aspects were assessed according to the services they offer.

The first three recognitions, within the “Accommodation” category, were granted to Villa Victoria Lodge (Gold Medal), Hotel Intercontinental (Silver Medal) and Lares de Chacras (Bronze Medal).

Afterward, other companies were awarded: Kilka (Gold), Atamisque and Casa del Visitante (Silver) and Norton (Bronze), in the category of “Restaurants related to Tourism.”

In the “Architecture, parks and gardens” category, the Gold Medal was achieved by O. Fournier, the Silver Medal by Cuvelier and the Bronze Medal by Navarro Correas.

Within the fourth category, “Art & Culture”, the Gold Medal winner was Finca La Anita. The Silver Medal was reached by Navarro Correas and Bianchi, whereas Dante Robino was awarded a Bronze Medal.

As regards “Wine Tourism Experiences”, only two medals were granted. The first one was awarded to Atamisque (Gold), and the second one to Monteviejo (Silver).

Then, the penultimate category to announce the winners was “Wine Tourism Services”.  In this opportunity, the Gold Medal was given to Hon Travel, the Silver Medal to mendozaholidays.com and the Bronze Medal to MDZ Winetour.

Finally, Club Tapiz was the only company to be recognized in the “Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices” category, with a Gold Medal.

It is noteworthy that the seven gold medal winners will participate in the annual gathering of the Great Wine Capitals, which will be held this year in Germany, from 23rd to 27th October. There, they will compete against other 56 gold-winning companies from other countries.