De winnaars van The Old Vine Hero Awards 2025 werden op maandag 31 maart 2025 bekendgemaakt tijdens het Old Vine Conference Winners’ Webinar . Het is de derde editie van de De Old Vine Hero Awards.

Met deze Awards wil men het bewustzijn en begrip vergroten voor het werk dat wordt gedaan om oude wijnstokken over de hele wereld te koesteren. Lees verder in het Engelstalige persbericht hieronder.

The winners of The Old Vine Hero Awards 2025 were announced at the Old Vine Conference Winners’ Webinar on Monday 31st March 2025.  Now in its third year, the Old Vine Hero Awards unite the global wine community and raise awareness and understanding of the work being done to nurture old vines around the world.

Recognising the dedication, tenacity and talents of those working with old vines and their wines, the 2025 awards fell into 5 categories:

• Next Generation
• Best Viticulture team
• Communication & Education > sponsored by the IWSC
• Research
• Old Vines, New Technology

The Judging

60 qualifying nominations were received for individuals and organisations from 14 countries. The nominations were judged by an international panel of 17 old vine specialists and narrowed down to 18 finalists. Over two weeks the finalists received just under 6,000 individual votes from the global wine community and beyond.

Next Generation

The Old Vine Hero NEXT GENERATION Award 2025 was awarded to Carlos & Juanjo Cerdán of Bodega Cerrón for their work revitalizing old vine vineyards in their native Fuente Alamo, located in the DO Jumilla region of Spain. The award was presented by Francisca Van Zeller, 15th generation, Van Zellers & Co, Portugal.

Best Viticulture Team

The Old Vine Hero BEST VITICULTURE TEAM Award 2025 was awarded to Bodegas y Viñedos Yokich of Ciniti Valley in Bolivia, who have been working closely with local small-holder growers for over 20 years to protect and promote the region’s ancient vineyards. The award was presented by Rosa Kruger, Founder & Chairperson of The Old Vine Project, South Africa.

Communication & Education

The Old Vine Hero COMMUNICATION & EDUCATION Award 2025, sponsored by the IWSC, was awarded to Michèle Shah, The Old Vine Conference Regional Ambassador for Italy for the pivotal role she has played in raising awareness of Italy’s vast viticultural heritage. The award was presented by Sarah Abbott MW, co-founder of The Old Vine Conference.

Research

The Old Vine Hero RESEARCH Award 2025 was awarded to Plaimont, Vignerons en Gascogne et Piémont Pyrénéen for the application of their research to practical viticulture, demonstrating how biodiversity can future-proof vineyards against environmental and market pressures. The award was presented by Dr Adrianna Catena, OVC Research Advisor & fourth-generation vintner at Catena Zapata winery.

Old Vines, New Technology

The Old Vine Hero Award 2025 for OLD VINES, NEW TECHNOLOGY was awarded to Marta Juega founder of PI Concept for her development of PI Analytics which has demonstrated measurable impact in old vine vineyards by improving water retention, reducing waste, and enhancing soil health. This award was presented by Shawn DeMartino, CEO & Founder of Sentinel Vine Manager.

The Old Vine Hero Awards are the only awards dedicated to raising awareness of and celebrating the individuals and organisations worldwide making the greatest contribution towards the positive progression of the old vine movement. 

Thank you to everyone that took time to nominate, to vote and most of all HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!!

If you missed the live results you can catchup on the recording of the Winners’ Webinar over on our YouTube channel.

The Prize 

The winners of each category of The Old Vine Hero Awards 2025 win a ticket to Day 1 of The Old Vine Conference 2025 taking place in California. Thanks to the IWSC the winner of the Communication & Education award wins a 5-day pass (including flight and accommodation) to The Old Vine Conference 2025 in California, and a commission to write an article for Club Oenologique, sharing their journey, reflections and insights from the California conference.

Nomination forms for the Old Vine Hero Awards 2026 will open in January 2026!!

More about this project: oldvines.org