Against all odds, a blend of different European wines sold for €2.50 in a local supermarket in Belgium has won the gold medal at the international Gilbert et Gaillard competition, a competition that publishes its wine guide in 9 languages ​​and publishes a magazine devoted to wine in France and in more than 22 countries around the world.
The curious thing about the story is that it all started as a joke to check to what extent the tastings are reliable in this type of competition. “There are Anglo-Saxon contests that are intended to make money… Registration is very expensive, transport is very expensive, to get joke medals,” the sommelier and great specialist from Belgium, Eric Boschman, who chose these days, explained to RTBF. the wine that has been proclaimed winner.
It was the Belgian television program On n’est pas des pigeons (“we are not stupid”) who asked him to organize a tasting to find the worst supermarket wine in the country, which later had its labels changed for more beautiful ones and the which was renamed ‘Le Château Colombier’.
Once this was done, they entered the bottle in the contest (paying 50 euros) and sent the wine to the laboratory to find out its graduation and sugar level, among other things.
No one expected it to win first prize, nor that the jury would describe it as a wine with a “soft, nervous and rich mouthfeel with clear young aromas that promise beautiful complexity. Very interesting.”
What was the prize for the On n’est pas des pigeons program after getting their 2.50-euro wine to stand as the best in the competition? Well, having to pay 60 euros more to be able to show off this new distinction, for each circulation of 1,000 bottles, on the label of their wines, a higher price than the registration they had to pay to participate in the contest.
