Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2019: de uitslagen!

Zojuist zijn de uitslagen van het Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, dat in mei 2019 plaatsvond in Aigle, Zwitserland, bekendgemaakt. Anne-Wies.NL proefde mee, uiteraard blind, dus ook ik ben heel benieuwd. Welke wijnen wonnen zilver, goud of zelfs ‘Grand Gold’? En wie kreeg de Revelation Awards? Lees hieronder het persbericht met een link naar de complete uitslag.

In the 2019 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in Aigle from May 2-5
9150 wines from 46 producer countries competed.
The international panel of judges awarded Silver, Gold and Grand Gold medals to wines
from 43 countries around the globe.

The UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, where the competition took place.

63 tables for the judges

My international jury team: Anne-Wies van Oosten (The Netherlands), Denis Meurant (Belgium), Mathilde Hulot (France), Ion Luca (République de Moldavie), Sari Sirén (Finland) and our sommelier from China.

Medals by country

Spain leads the way with 626 medals, the majority of which were awarded to wines from the Castilla-y-Leon region and Rioja. France came in second with 614 accolades and although the country achieved the highest number of awarded white and sparkling wines in the competition, Merlot proved to be the key grape variety, accounting for over 32% of French medals. Italy‘s native grape varieties drove the country’s strong performance, helping it to rank third in the number of medals (383). Sangiovese, Primitivo, Glera and Nero d’Avola scored the highest among Italian wines. Portugal collected 365 medals from the competition, thus securing fourth place. The host county Switzerland picked up 172 awards, with Chasselas wines in the lead, followed by Pinot Noir, Merlot, Petite Arvine and Cornalin. For the first time in the history of the competition, Mexico has entered the top 10 for the number of medals.

Medals by grape variety

The most awarded red grape varieties in the 2019 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles are Merlot (268), Tempranillo (260), Cabernet-Sauvignon (221), Syrah (135) and Grenache (93). Among the white grape varieties, panel favorites were Sauvignon Blanc (102), Chardonnay (91), Chasselas (30), Verdejo (29) and Alvarinho (20).

Grand Gold medal

Only one percent of the wines in the competition received the coveted Grand Gold medal – the highest recognition awarded by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. Italian wines won the most Grand Gold medals, followed by Spain, France, Portugal and Switzerland.

Over 50% of all awarded wines in the competition sell for under EUR 8.5 (cellar price) which underscores their value for money.

Revelation 2019

The most surprising revelation this year is undoubtedly the 2014 Chant d’Eole Brut Blanc de Blancs – Cuvée Prestige from Belgium. Domaine du Chant d’Eole managed to outstrip more than 700 international wines, to secure the highest score in the Sparkling Wine category.

The Revelation International Red Wine in the competition comes from the El Cielo winery in Mexico and sports the unusual name of “Caipirinha”. The 2016 vintage is a blend of Cabernet-Sauvignon, Syrah, Nebbiolo & Malbec.

The highest score in the international white wine category was given to the Gorka Izagirre winery in Spain for its 2015 vintage “42 by Eneko Atxa” – a wine from the Hondarrabi Zerratia grape variety, native to the Basque Country.

The winner of the Revelation International Rose Wine in the 2019 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles also comes from Spain, from Castilla-y-Leon. The 2018 Quelias Rosado from Bodegas Sinforiano is a blend of 50% Albillo, 30% Grenache, 10% Verdejo and 10% Tempranillo.

For a second consecutive year the International Organic Wine Revelation goes to Italy. The current winner is the 2015 Fabula Riserva from Azienda Agricola Montebelli in Tuscany. Italy also collected the highest number of medals for organic wines followed by Spain, France and China.