Concours Mondial de Bruxelles – prize winning wines

At the end of April Valencia was host to the 16th edition of the annual wine competition Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. CMB has grown from a modest start in 1994 to become one of the world’s biggest wine competitions. The first edition had 861 wines. This year they had over 6000 wines and spirits from 54 countries. There were 250 judges from 41 countries (BKWine representing Sweden). Italy, Spain, France and Portugal were the winners of the “Best Wine of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2009”. The top scores went to:

• Best Sparkling: Champagne Bourgeois Cuvée du Dernier Siècle, Brut millésimé 2002 (FR)
  
• Best White: Adega Vila Real Grande Reserva, Douro 2005 (PT)
  
• Best Rosé: Chiaretto Giovanni Avanzi, Garda Classico 2008 (IT)
  
• Best Red: Protos Crianza, Ribera del Duero 2006 (ES)
  
• Best Sweet: Nes, Passito di Pantelleria 2007 (IT)
  
• Best Spirit : Osteria di Rubbiara, Pedroni, Grappa di Vinaccia di Lambrusco Invecchiata (IT)

Congratulations! And also a big hand for, for example, the excellent and modestly prices Bordeaux Château Thieuley who won a gold medal for a white sauvignon-sémillon wine; Gerovassiliou from Greece with a gold medal for his syrah 2006; Château Pech-Latt in Corbières with a silver medal for Tamanova 2006; and Château Saint-Jacques d’Alba in Minervois with a gold medal for their La Chapelle 2006. One of the big surprises (when the names were revealed after the blind tasting) was two fantastic wines from La Mancha in Spain: Condesa de Leganza Reserva 1998 and Varones Tempranillo Gran Reserva 1996. But were awarded well deserved gold medals. There are many, many other wines that we would like to mention (e.g. some excellent whites from Sicily – another big surprise!) but space does not allow it. Instead we recommend a visit to the web site www.concoursmondial.com where you will find the full list of winners.