MAASTRICHT, Netherlands — I’ve had my nose buried in a wine glass for most of the past week, so blogging has been light. The event that has occupied nearly all my waking moments is the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, a wine competition of significant international import.
Hundreds of wine judges from every aspect of the wine profession — and literally every corner of the globe — convened in this quaint Dutch city to evaluate nearly 6,000 wines.
My jury of six judges was led by Elie Maamari, an enologist and export manager of Lebanon’s Chateau Ksara. I was part of a small U.S. contingent that also included WRO Columnist Leslie Sbrocco, Rebecca Murphy of the Dallas Morning News and Laurie Daniel of the San Jose Mercury.
Each panel tasted approximately 50 wines per day and ranked wines using a 100-point scoring system developed by the Concours Mondial. The system is quite generous in that a correctly made wine with no obvious flaws and a modicum of character stands an excellent chance of taking a gold medal.
The medals awarded are Silver (82-86 points), Gold (87-95 points) and Great Gold (96-100 points). On Sunday, the first day of judging, I gave 16 gold medals from 50 wines. While all of the wines that I rated gold had merit, I hasten to point out there is a huge difference between an 87-point gold medal and one that commands 95 points. And very little difference between a 96-point Great Gold and a 95-point Gold.
I also freely admit I am not familiar with many of these wines, but feel it is useful and educational to share these findings as they relate to global wine quality. The tastings were blind. Judges knew neither the producer, the region of origin, the grape varieties nor the dryness/sweetness levels of the wines presented.
I will list my golds with scores (sorry, no pricing or importer information was available, and I’m sure many of these wines never reach our shores) the way they were listed by the Concours Mondial. At this point, I have no idea how my gold-medal wines performed within the group vote.
Domaine Saint Hilaire Advocate 2005, Languedoc-Roussillon, Vin de Pays d’Oc Blanc. 94
Joly Brut Cuvee Speciale, Champagne, France. 90
Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve, Champagne, France. 96
Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Rare, Champagne, France. 92
Chateau Haut-Meneau La Clie 2005, Cotes de Blaye Rouge, Bordeaux. 90
Chateau Segonzac 2005, Cotes de Blaye Rouge. Bordeaux. 94
Chateau de Haut Coulon 2005, Cotes de Blaye Rouge, Bordeaux. 94
Chateau Les Violettes 2005, Cotes de Blaye Rouge, Bordeaux. 93
Chateau Le Joncieux 2003, Cotes de Blaye Rouge, Bordeaux. 99
Chateau Le Cone 2003 Cru Bourgeois, Cotes de Blaye Rouge, Bordeaux. 91
Espiritu de Chile Gran Reserve Merlot 2005, Maule Valley, Chile. 98
Yellow Biplano Merlot 2005, Valle Central. 93
Casa Silva Angostura Gran Reserva Merlot 2005, Colchagua Valley, Chile. 92
Botalcura El Delirio Reserva Carmenere-Merlot 2005, Valle Central, Chile. 88
Sol de Chile Merlot Reserva 2005, Maule Valley, Chile. 91
Ventisquero Queulat Merlot Gran Reserva 2004, Maipo Valley, Chile. 89
PHOTO: Elie Maamari of Lebanon was president of Jury 13, my panel at the Concours Mondial.
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