Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) was founded in 1994 by Louis Havaux. Since 2006, the competition has traveled to the wine regions of several continents, holding tasting sessions in Lisbon, Bordeaux, Palermo, Luxembourg, Guimarães, Bratislava, Aigle, Beijing and Brno.

This year, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles celebrated its 30th anniversary in Poreč, Istria, Croatia, where a large-scale tasting of red and white wines was organized. More than 7500 wines from all over the world were evaluated by 320 wine professionals from 50 nationalities. Poreč has become the starting point for numerous wine routes and educational events, which have been perfectly organized by the CMB team in cooperation with Vinistra (the Istrian Vineyards and Winemakers Association), joined by national and regional organizations.

CMB Chairman Baudouin Havaux noted that the competition he leads reflects the latest market trends. One of the most important trends nowadays claims that wine culture has become an integral part of tourism. Croatia and Istria have a rich history, magnificent nature, exquisite cuisine and quality wines. This is one of the fastest growing wine tourism destinations. The incredible beauty of nature and the diversity of opportunities for wine and gastronomic tourism were demonstrated to an international team of judges, part of which were the journalists of Drinks+ and Wine Travel Awards.

The first day started with a presentation of the Istrian region and the Vinistra association by Caroline Gilby, MW, and a master class where the flagship varieties Malvasia Istriana and Teran were presented with different styles of wines – young and aged. The judges also had the opportunity to taste olive oil made from different varieties of olives, organoleptically diverse, but consistently high-quality olive oil – a product for which Istria is famous, and later to see the oldest olive tree in the Mediterranean, about 1600 years old, which grows in national park on the island of Brijuni and even continues to bear fruit (!).

The wines of Istria, and Croatia in general, were widely represented at the competition, which deservedly has the reputation of an independent, honest and one of the most influential wine competitions in the world.

The next three days began with intensive tastings, the wines of each flight were evaluated according to a strict protocol by multinational judging commissions of six members —  professionals from different areas of the wine business, headed by the chairmen, the most experienced and skilled tasters. In our commission, the chairman was Pasi Ketolainen, MW from Finland. The rest of the judges represented Macedonia, France, Greece, Mexico and Ukraine.

At the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, wines are evaluated, but not only wine producers are valued, rewarded and promoted. The organizers celebrate the work and publicly welcome the most experienced judges, many of whom have been participating in the competition for decades.

Companies that have been participating in the competition since the first years of its foundation and have special achievements, also receive special recognition. This is how Casa Santos Lima from Portugal received the title of the “Most awarded company at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 1994-2023”.

In every manifestation, in every activity, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles demonstrates competent, proactive and organic marketing. Which is only natural, considering that CMB is a project of Vinopres, a very experienced marketing agency, which has been promoting wines and spirits for more than 30 years, publishing its own magazine called VINO!, hosting successful wine competitions, as well as other successful projects. At the anniversary Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, a capacious presentation of the development of the project was made.

In order to facilitate international communications, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles will be, as of now, increasingly referred to as CMB. Each year the CMB competition takes place in four sessions: Rose Wine session, Red & White Wine session, Sparkling Wine session and Sweet & Fortified Wine session. Some sessions are held on individual grape varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Vranec and Marselan. Under the CMB umbrella, special national competitions are held, as well as competitions for specific products: Spirit selection and Sake selection.

Two new CMB projects have been launched in Mexico  recently. One of them is Wine Bar by Сoncours Mondial de Bruxelles, the first wine bar to open in Mexico City that exclusively serves CMB-winning wines by the glass and bottle. The second one is Wine Corner by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, which has been launched in collaboration with United Airlines: in the first terminal of Mexico City International Airport, United Airlines passengers can choose wines and spirits from a wine list of CMB-winning wines.

Considering the new projects, it is quite logical that the next Сoncours Mondial de Bruxelles 2024 will be held in Mexico, in Guanajuato. The new host country was announced during the last tasting session and a special lunch with national cuisine and Mexican wines, both held in Poreč.

Сoncours Mondial de Bruxelles has become a meeting place for old friends and partners of Drinks +, as well as members of the Wine Travel Awards community. We were happy to welcome Thomas Brandl, Per Karlsson, Rojita Tiwari, who became the winners of the WTA 2022-2023 in the The brightest journey nomination in the Food & Wine Influencer category, partners from Wines of Moldova, and many others.

The CMB results give cause for congratulations to the WTA nominees. Among the gold medal winners are companies such as Zlaten Rozhen, Bulgaria – two golds; Armenia Wine Factory and Gevorkian Winery, Armenia; Vinaria Purcari, Moldova – ten gold medals!

The anniversary Сoncours Mondial de Bruxelle, Red & White Wine session opened new names on the world wine map: India won its first gold, Kazakhstan and Albania joined the ranks of medalists.

Find all results by the link: https://resultats.concoursmondial.com/en/results

The next Sparkling wine session will take place June 1-3 in Campania, Italy.

• CMB
• Concours Mondial de Bruxelles
• Croatia
• Istria
• Malvasia Istriana
• Vinistra
• Wine Travel Awards
• Теран