Four Delicata wines were awarded at this year’s Challenge Inter-national du Vin held recently in Bordeaux, France.
There were a gold medal for the 2014 Gran Cavalier Barrel Fermented Chardonnay Malta DOK Superior, the same wine that won a silver medal a month ago in Burgundy; a silver medal for the recently-released new Classic Collection wine 2014 Rossini Syrah Rosé IGT Maltese Islands; a bronze medal for the 2014 Medina Syrah Carignan Grenache DOK Malta; and a bronze medal for the 2013 Grand Vin de Hauteville Moscato DOK Malta Liqueur wine.
Every year, the Challenge International du Vin attracts more than 5,000 wines from 38 countries. These are tasted over two days in the town of Bourg by some 800 wine professionals and expert wine-loving consumers.
The tasting is held in optimum tasting conditions over two mornings, with each jury tasting two series of 12 wines. It takes place in closed rooms under the super-vision of three commissioners.
There are four qualified tasters with different and complementary profiles from across the wine sector, representing the vinification chain right through to the consumer level.
Every year, the Challenge International du Vin attracts more than 5,000 wines from 38 countries
The ‘quartets’ are selected according to their oenological skills vis-à-vis the wines.
Technicians include oeno-logists, viticultural technicians and viticultural lecturers; and distributors include wine brokers, wine merchants, wine waiters and cellarmen. Buyers include connoisseurs, amateurs with a university diploma in wine-tasting and members of wine clubs; and producers include winegrowers, vineyard managers, winemakers and oenology students.
This prestigious event is the largest international wine competition held in France and certified to ISO 9001 (version 2008), a certification which testifies to its established high-quality approach and the application of rigorous technical standards to its organisation. It is open to all wines and wine-based spirits ready for marketing (bottled), regardless of vintage.
The competition was awarded approval by the European Community in 1986 and is governed by the rules of the International Code of Oenological Practices for Vines and Wines.
Delicata wines have been awarded 13 medals at this particular wine competition, but this gold medal is only the second gold won in Bordeaux, the first having been for one of the company’s flagship reds Grand Vin de Hauteville Cabernet Sauvignon in 2000.
Delicata’s overall award count now stands at a tantalising 99 awards, just one away from the 100 mark.