Moravian and Czech wines shine again in Japan. They won four top Diamond Trophy awards at the prestigious SAKURA 2026 competition
Tokyo/Valtice – The Czech Republic achieved extraordinary success at the 13th edition of the most prestigious Asian wine competition judged exclusively by women – the “SAKURA” Japan Women’s Wine Awards. In competition with 3,715 samples from 37 countries around the world, domestic wines won four top Diamond Trophy awards and several prizes in special categories. In terms of the ratio of the number of samples entered to the highest marks awarded, the Czech Republic ranked among the absolute most successful participants this year.
The excellent results of Czech winemaking in the land of the rising sun are also underlined by Veronika Vanišová, agricultural diplomat in Japan. “This success in such a tough international and highly professional environment proves that the Czech Republic has definitively established itself on the map of the best wine regions in the world from the perspective of Japanese sommeliers and oenologists. Succeeding in Japan, which is known for its uncompromising pressure on quality and detail, is an extraordinary achievement. We value the four highest trophies in the competition, the many awards in special categories and the award for winemaker of the year, which is also a turning point.”
Soňa Podholová from the Vinné sklepy Kutná Hora winery achieved a completely exceptional personal recognition, being declared the best winemaker (Best Woman Winemaker). Her Cabernet Blanc 2024 also won one of the four prestigious Diamond Trophy.
The absolute top among the awarded samples are the Diamond Trophy holders. This is a selection of only 65 best-rated wines from around the world, which have passed through a strict sieve through double gold. Two of these trophies are going to the Milotice-based BV winery for their Sekt Charmat VZ 2024 (batch 2443) and Hibernal 2023 (batch 2348). The Bohemia Sekt company also made it into the world elite with its Bohemia Sekt Prestige demi sec 2022 wine and the Kutná Hora winery with its Cabernet Blanc 2024.
“Winning two Diamond Trophies at one year of such an important Asian exhibition is a dream come true for us. It confirms that our path focused on precise work with the variety and technological purity resonates with the extremely demanding Japanese audience,” said the management of the BV winery about the award.
In addition to the main trophies, Moravian wines also dominated special categories focused on Asian gastronomy and an excellent quality-price ratio. The Grand Prix Great Value Sparkling Wine title for the best sparkling wine with high added value was won by BV Vinařství for its Sekt Charmat VZ 2024. In the Cost Performance Wine category (wines with an excellent quality-price ratio), wines from BV Vinařství (Sekt Charmat VZ 2024, Hibernal 2023), Bohemia Sekt (Bohemia Sekt Prestige demi sec 2022) and Vinné sklepy Kutná Hora (Cabernet Blanc 2024) dominated.
From the perspective of food pairing, the jury highlighted two samples from BV Vinařství as ideal accompaniments to sushi (Sekt Charmat VZ 2024 and Kerner 2024). Their Kerner 2024 also won in the category suitable for Japanese Pot-au-feu. The Vino J. Stávek Winery then scored with its Bílá Frankovka 2025, which was awarded as an ideal choice for Chinese cuisine. The sweet spot for the Czech success was BV Vinařství with an award in the “Dessert” Wine category for its Traminer 2017.
This year’s judging took place in Osaka and Tokyo in February. A jury of 430 experts from the Japanese wine industry (sommeliers, winemakers, buyers and journalists) assessed a wide range of styles. According to the organizers, the mission of the competition is to find wines that are ideally suited to Japanese food culture, increase wine consumption and expand opportunities for women in this industry. The SAKURA Awards are now recognized as a major wine competition with unique judging criteria, which has seen a steady increase in interest from producers from Central and Eastern Europe in recent years. A total of 2,260 medals were awarded, with the highest Diamond Trophy awarded to just under 2% of all entries.
The success of our wines follows many activities not only last year, not only at the Sakura competition, but also at the presentation at the Expo in Osaka and at the Japanese embassy in Tokyo. Our wines are thus building ever stronger relations with Japan, which is an important international market for all wine-producing countries.
Complete results and further information can be found at www.sakuraaward.com
