Spirits Awards – the ‘spirits’ section of the Concours Mondial |
 |
 |
|
The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles welcomed liqueurs and spirits into its fold eleven years ago. These require particular tasting expertise and a specialised panel of experts. In addition to this, the competition offers bespoke training sessions every year, enabling tasters to become more familiar with – and more expert at judging – grappas, whiskies, Cognac, rum, tequilas…
The professionalism and stringency that make the Concours Mondial so unique within the world of wine competitions are evident at every stage of the tasting. The task is made harder in this particular section by the comprehensive range of products and frequent high alcohol content. To ensure the competition runs smoothly, in 2006 the organisers hired Filippo Baldan, one of the world’s leading mixologists and a true maestro. The Spirits Awards, CMB’s younger sister event, is now a fully-fledged competition and is poised to grow more. Our ambition, now more than ever, is to bring together a representative number of samples for each product type and region. The catholic range of products and high alcohol volumes combine to make the sensorial analysis of spirits a complicated affair. This is why we attach great importance to training our tasters. Alongside the tasting sessions, our tasters are invited to take part in workshops and courses. These are designed to help them better appreciate and, more importantly, become more skilled at judging the specific characteristics of each product. In 2010, for instance, grappa and Marsala were featured in a dedicated presentation. The organisers welcome all proposals for designing training sessions in the future. For more information, please contact
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Our ‘spirits’ judges, who include some of the world’s leading experts, form a tight-knit circle within the broader group of 250 tasters at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. The internationally-renowned mixologist Filippo Baldan (Belgium’s top barman, double Golden Shakers Award and silver medallist at the 1999 World Championships) is at the helm of the circle of spirits tasters. The 2010 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles ‘spirits’ panel: Werner Albrecht (Germany), Emmanuel Becheau (Martinique), Chienhao Chen (Taiwan), Giorgio Colli (Italy), Jean Geebelen (Belgium), Thierry Giraud (France), Fernando Herrera (Chile), Adeline Loizeau (France), Arthur Naegele (Switzerland), Simon Palmer (New Zealand), Bernard Schafer (Germany), Johnny Schuler (Peru), Guido Scialpi (Italy), Marie-Claude Segur (France), René Van Hoven (Netherlands), Marc Vandenberghe (Belgium), Filip Verleye (Belgium), Bruno Pilzer (Italy), Jesús Bernad (Spain) and Christian Drouin (France). New names will join them in 2011… If you are a member of the spirits industry and would like to judge at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, please feel free to contact Filippo Baldan:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
|
It was exactly eleven years ago that the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles began accepting spirits entries. During those eleven years, grappa, pisco, Cognac, whisky, rum, tequila, liqueurs and fruit wines have been able to compete for the competition’s prestigious medals.
