Bacchus Prize

A prize donated by ÖWM (Österreich Wein Marketing GmbH) and the Austrian Winegrowers' Association, named after the wine god Bacchus. It is awarded to personalities who have rendered outstanding services to Austrian wine. The award is presented annually on Martini on 11 November on the occasion of the traditional wine baptism. The award is intended to express gratitude to those personalities who dedicate a part of their work to Austrian wine and its culture and who advocate moderate and cultivated wine drinking. This is in line with the efforts to have the drinking culture and table culture on that level that a good glass of wine is a real enrichment of the values of life. The Bacchus Prize was awarded for the first time in 1971. Previous winners have included the actors Rudolf Carl, Paul Hörbiger, Elfriede Ott, Alfred Böhm and Harald Krassnitzer, the composer Robert Stolz, the Federal President Rudolf Kirchschläger, the wine authors and wine critics Bernulf Bruckner, and the wine critic Bernulf Bruckner. Wine critics Bernulf Bruckner, Walter Kutscher, Egon Mark and Rudolf Steurer, wine pastor Johannes Denk, celebrity chef Toni Mörwald, two Viennese mayors Helmut Zilk and Michael Häupl, Lower Austrian governor Erwin Pröll (the latter two in 2018), and "Germany's No. 1 sommelière" Paula Bosch. See also under the wine god as well as winegrowing personalities.