A harsh outburst from the publisher and founder of the well-known wine competition during the opening speech of the Summer Edition 2025. “It is a hypocritical attitude. I will continue to defend wine for the rest of my life.”
Mundus Vini confirms its status as a premier stage for European and international wine, going far beyond the quality of the competition’s jury. As per tradition, the opening speech of the Summer Edition 2025, held in Neustadt an der Weinstraße from August 28 to 31, offered an opportunity for reflection and debate on the state of the industry. It was Christoph Meininger, publisher and director of the Meininger Verlag publishing house and founder of the Mundus Vini competition—organized in Germany since 2001—who used strong and decisive tones. His target was German public television, funded by approximately 8 billion euros a year from German taxpayers.
CHRISTOPH MEININGER AND HIS OUTBURST ON STAGE AT THE MUNDUS VINI SUMMER EDITION
According to Meininger, talk shows regularly feature broadcasts describing wine as harmful to health, contrasting it with cannabis consumption. “Every week,” he stated, “there is a talk show repeating that wine is bad for you and that it’s almost better to smoke joints.”
The publisher also pointed the finger at the Neustadt press. After canceling his subscription to a local newspaper that ran the headline “The toxic poison of wine”, he spoke of having family arguments related to the decision, but insisted he no longer wants to support publications that, in his view, defame the industry.
MUNDUS VINI: THE CULTURAL VALUE OF WINE
At the heart of Christoph Meininger’s speech was the conviction that wine should not be reduced to a mere health issue. “Wine brings people together. It is culture,” he affirmed. The publisher and organizer of Mundus Vini recalled tasting experiences over the last ten years where Jews, Muslims, and Catholics sat side by side, sharing the same passion.
There was no shortage of direct criticism for the newspaper Die Rheinpfalz (referred to by Meininger as “Bindzeider”), accused of attacking alcohol for months, only to then promote and sell wine through its own channels. “It is a hypocritical attitude,” declared Christoph Meininger. “I will continue to defend wine for the rest of my life.”
In Meininger’s words, wine is described as a symbol of civilization and shared pleasure, while admitting to “negative effects, linked exclusively to excessive consumption.” It is a heritage to be protected, according to the German publisher, against what he considers a growing campaign of demonization in Germany.
Mundus Vini, Meininger: “Wine under attack by German media”. https://www.meininger.de/it/vino/degustazioni/mundus-vini.
