in the Médoc, the French team finished in 28th place in the World Wine Tasting Championship

HAS all lord, all honor: this Saturday, October 12, Italy took a great first place during a blind wine tasting world championship, in Margaux in the Médoc. Switzerland finished tied for second with Taiwan, followed by Japan. Organized at Château Dauzac by “La Revue du vin de France”, the tests lasted more than four hours. A dozen wines had to be identified by 39 teams from all over the world. The Italians notably widened the gap by guessing that their glass contained a Mourvèdre grape variety, from the Bandol appellation, in the South-East of France, 2006 vintage.

“Usually, they are poorly ranked but here, Italy was incredible,” greets Eddy Gautier, member of the French team. Struggling with half a dozen vintages, the tricolors finished at a modest 28^e place, unequivocally failing to win a fourth title for the twelfth edition of this competition. This is enough to reassure anyone who is intimidated by wine tasting: even the best can get lost when it comes to guessing what they are tasting.

Champions

The team was made up of Walter Labouyrie, French champion in 2013, Eddy Gautier, French champion in 2014, François Martinez and Hervé Cuzon, members of the very renowned Toulouse club In Vino Veritas, and Miguel Sennoun, French tasting champion in 2009 and coach of the team. “We have been training to taste for twenty years, this competition is the school of humility,” admits the latter in view of the poor performance of his team.

During this championship, he was asked to find, blindly, the grape variety of the wine (the type of grape), its country, its appellation and the year of its harvest (the vintage). To achieve this, the brain works by synesthesia, by combining several senses. Thus wine first appeals to sight: the color determines in particular the grape variety and its age. The nose allows you to identify the aromas (blackcurrant, verbena, leather, cherry, lime blossom, lemon, lily of the valley, chocolate, etc.). Finally, in the mouth, the taster will evaluate the flavors (salty, sweet, sour, bitter) and the texture (tannins, alcohol).

Memory and feeling

To avoid distracting concentration, the tasting takes place in a visually uncluttered place free of odors. On the table are several glasses and a spittoon. As well as water and white bread to “rinse” the palate. In addition, to mobilize the senses as much as possible, silence is required. In this ideal setting, it is then enough to use your memory, worked during previous tastings, to be able to deduce which wine was served.

In this game, France procrastinated a lot, often failing to follow its intuitions and not daring to take risks: “Perhaps it’s a wine from Lebanon? », says a French taster. “No, it’s a Grenache, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape,” replies one of his teammates. Lost: it was indeed a Lebanese wine with Cabernet Sauvignon. And for this other glass: “A tempranillo from Ribera del duero (Spain, Editor’s note) but it’s strange, it has freshness.” Lost again: its grape variety is Malbec (hence its freshness) cultivated in Argentina by the Bordeaux oenologist Michel Rolland with an overwhelming taste of wood. And even when the team unanimously agrees: “It’s a Chenin, Montlouis 2022, if it’s not that, it’s because we’re four idiots!” » Re-lost: this white wine is a 2018 Moselle from Germany.

Ten minutes to find

“We’re getting screwed,” says a member of the team, out of frustration. Coach Miguel Sennoun plays his role: “Stay inside, there are still wines to taste! » And to warn: “I have to put pressure on you guys, the tasting is going very quickly”. In fact, each team has ten minutes at the same time to find the answer. All its members note their observations (eye, nose and mouth); these are pooled; a debate ensues; then comes the time to make a decision. “Sometimes, there is only one person on the team who is right against the others,” explains the coach. If she is sure of her opinion, we follow her. Most of the time, we don’t operate on the basis of the majority of opinions, we try to converge.”

The French, competing against a myriad of nations (Brazil, Kenya, United States, India, Singapore, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Mexico, South Africa) nevertheless shone on three occasions: “It’s a Barolo”. Bingo! “It’s a Savagnin.” Bingo again! “It’s a Gamay from the Brouilly appellation.” And bingo again! Phew, honor is safe.