Grenaches du monde contest 260 wines awarded
Following Aragon in 2016, Sardinia in 2017, Catalonia in 2018 and Roussillon in 2019, the Languedoc hosted this year the Grenaches du Monde Competition thanks to the support of the Interprofession des Vins de Pays d’Oc (Inter Oc), french leader in quality grape variety wines and first national producer of Grenaches rosés. Organized by the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Roussillon (CIVR), this iconic competition has become in eight years a must for Grenaches lovers, as confirmed by the 2020 edition.
832 WINES PRESENTED
Gathered on September 15th and 16th at the prestigious Domaine de Verchant, located in the Montpellier area, 68 jurors (wine merchants, sommeliers, importers but also oenologists and specialized journalists, etc.) from 13 different nationalities tasted 832 wines from 5 countries (France, Spain, Italy, United States, South Africa). 260 medals were awarded, including 188 gold and 72 silver.
Spain received 125 medals, France 78, Italy 56 and the United States 1. Roussillon wines shone with a total of 54 medals, of whom 31 for dry wines with PDO and PGI and 23 for Fortified Sweet Wines with PDO. Consumers will be able to identify the distinguished “cuvées” thanks to the medals affixed to the bottles or by consulting the competition website, which details the entire list of winners. www.grenachesdumonde.com/palmares
GRENACHE, A GREAT MEDITERRANEAN GRAPE VARIETY
Covering 192,455 hectares of vines, Grenache ranks seventh among the most planted grape varieties in the world. Emblematic of Mediterranean countries, it ranks third in Europe with 178,628 hectares, or 93% of the world’s surface area. France, Spain and Italy are the top three producing countries, with France’s 90,000 hectares, i.e. about 50% of the world’s Grenache.
ABOUT GRENACHES DU MONDE CONTEST
Created in 2013 in Perpignan, the Grenaches du Monde Contest, which became an itinerant event in 2016, is an annual competition open to all wines (dry, sweet, or sparkling), with a majority of Grenache, with no restrictions on color, origin or nationality. “The event aims to highlight the extraordinary diversity of Grenache cuvées,” explains Fabrice Rieu, President of Grenaches du Monde. 15 of the 16 designations of origin from the Roussillon vineyard include Grenache in their specifications, so it was quite natural that the Competition was born on the initiative of the Conseil Interprofessionel des Vins du Roussillon. www.grenachesdumonde.com
