369 Portuguese wines won medals at the 24th Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB)
The 24th edition of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) took place in Valladolid, Spain, from 5 to 8 May.
Present, there were 320 journalists, buyers, sommeliers and winemakers from around the world to evaluate the wines in evidence. The 9,080 wines registered from all over the world competed for Silver, Gold and Great Gold Medals.
The medals delivered to Portuguese wines represent 34% of the wines in the tender, an excellent ratio in relation to the competitors with the largest number of entries:
- Great Gold: 15 wines
- Gold: 122 wines
- Silver: 231 wines
The top ten medal-winning countries this year are Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Chile, China, Bulgaria, South Africa, Switzerland and Greece (both on place 9) and the Czech Republic. Host country Spain has the highest number of medals (last year Spain came second, after France) spearheaded by Castilla y León with 29.4 % of Spanish accolades. Italy, Portugal, Chile and Switzerland hold the same place in the top ten as they did in 2016. Conversely, China moves up two places, after being awarded more than twice as many medals as the year before (78 medals in 2017 vs. 36 in 2016). Greece and the Czech Republic are “the new kids on the block” in this year’s top ten.
Spain also has the highest number of Grand Gold medals – this year and last – followed by Portugal, France and Italy. China won 4 Grand Gold medals, climbing up the top ten from 10th place to 5th place this year.
Another new medal made its debut this year at Concours Mondial: the award for “Exceptional Old Vintage”. The quality of nine Portuguese wines swayed the panel which awarded them the highly-sought-after medals. Portugal was the absolute leader in the old vintage category followed by Spain, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary and Switzerland.
"Every year, the Concours Mondial takes place in a different place to help wine and wine tourism gain greater international visibility," says Thomas Costenoble, Director of the CMB. The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is the only competition that travels the world every year and the only one that performs quality control tests on medallion wines. Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is the only wine competition to perform post-event sample checks in order to ensure the consistent quality of its medal winners. Next year, the CMB will go to Beijing.
