Chambord (France) (AFP)
Eyes wide open, the taste buds sharp, nose sharpened, the French became Saturday in Chambord (Loir-et-Cher) world champions of blind wine tasting, in front of a Chinese team and one from Taiwan.
This competition, organized for the seventh consecutive year by the Revue des Vins de France, took place in a room of the famous Château de Chambord.
Twenty-seven teams, usually champions in their home country, had come to try to identify twelve wines - six white and six red - selected around the world.
In groups of four led by a coach who did not even have the right to smell their glasses, the competitors inhaled all the morning smells, contemplated the dresses and tested the flavors of wines from Italy, China, Greece , the United States and France.
They had to guess grape varieties, country of origin, appellation, producer and year of production.
Most of the participants spat as they went, nibbling on a piece of bread or drinking a little water between sips, before comparing their taste impressions with their team, then getting along with the coach to make the choices.
"It is important not to intellectualize," said David Fontaine, president of the sommeliers of Val-de-Loire, came to serve the teams, mainly men who represent three quarters of competitors.
Few made "box full" but the Chinese team, champion in 2016, selected by Brice Leboucq, a French settled in China, made a good impression. According to Mr. Leboucq, "they learn quickly and we attend the birth of future great terroirs".
According to the Revue des vins de France, this is the second French victory after that of 2014. The French came third in 2018.
Five new teams took part in their first competition this year: Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Romania, Estonia and Portugal.
Belgium, who won last year, finished at the foot of the podium this year, in 4th place, while the Italian team finished last, according to the same source.
© 2019 AFP