Увага! На сайті використовуються cookie файли.
The site uses cookie files
Даний сайт має вікове обмеження.
This site has age restrictions!
Я підтверджую, що мені, на жаль, давно виповнилося 18 років
At the end of this year’s Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in China, after the last calibration flight registered for the day, the competition director, Mr. Baudouin Havaux, gave an exclusive interview to a D+ representative invited to the jury and explained where the competition is headed and why he still compares it to the Olympic Games, despite the fact that the latter never stops in one place.
Kateryna Yushchenko: Many shows hand out medals, yet the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles calls itself a public-service platform. What’s the core mission?
Baudouin Havaux: “The target is to give the consumer a guarantee of quality and to open the mind of the consumer to new wines, to other countries… quality first, curiosity second.”
K.Y.: Your judges now feed data into an AI. Why lean so hard on technology in something as sensory as wine?
B.H.: “We invest a lot in artificial intelligence because it can help the consumer, producer, the importer, and the buyer. A small winery can’t hire a big agency – our report is their marketing department.”
K.Y.: And that same small winery? Why should it budget for an entry fee?
B.H.: “A competition like CMB is a perfect marketing tool for a small producer. You pay the inscription – two-hundred-twenty euros – and if you earn a medal, you gain worldwide visibility.”
K.Y.: The show keeps opening CMB Wine & Spirits Experience bars – in airports, city centres, and soon online. Is that the future?
B.H.: “We need windows that speak to final consumers. The bars pour medal wines by the glass; producers get presence in markets they could never reach alone.”
K.Y.: The Concours now spans four sessions and thousands of samples. From an organiser’s view, what remains the single hardest step?
B.H.: “Panel building. If you misbalance a table – too many producers, too few educators – you change the personality of the score sheet. Getting that mix right is harder than shipping 7,000 bottles to a desert airport.”
K.Y.: Judges open the day with a calibration flight. How strict is the tolerance band before you step in?
B.H.: “A standard deviation above 3.0 triggers a red flag. We’ll pause the panel, discuss the reference wine together, and – if needed – replace a judge who can’t realign.”
K.Y.: Your scoring app feeds an AI that sends aroma wheels back to producers. Have you received any pushback from people who prefer the old paper system?
B.H.: “At first, yes. Now, most judges enjoy seeing their descriptors turned into data. The feedback is priceless for wineries: you get twenty global palates translated into clear graphs within a week.”
K.Y.: The 30 % medal cap is stricter than many shows. Ever tempted to relax it?
B.H.: “Never. Scarcity protects trust. If half the wines on a shelf carry our sticker, the value of each medal drops to zero.”
K.Y.: How do you decide which city hosts a future session?
B.H.: “Three filters: logistical capacity, demonstrated quality potential, and a government or trade body ready to treat the event as a knowledge transfer, not just a medal hunt.”
K.Y.: Are new categories – low-alcohol, no-alcohol, alt-ferments – on the horizon?
B.H.: “Low-alcohol will appear sooner than people think. We’re running pilot tastings to fine-tune a fair rubric; quality metrics differ once you reduce ethanol.”
K.Y.: Sustainability claims are everywhere. Will the Concours verify them?
B.H.: “From 2026, we’ll ask for basic carbon and water data at submission. It won’t affect the sensory score, but we will publish an optional sustainability badge next to the medal.”
K.Y.: Finally, what personal moment still gives you goosebumps after thirty-plus editions?
B.H.: “When a first-time entrant – often from a tiny region – sees their code flash ‘Grand Gold.’ You watch disbelief turn into a grin and know their entire village will read about it tomorrow.”
K.Y.: Fast-forward five years – what will the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles look like?
B.H.: “The philosophy – quality guarantee – won’t change. But you’ll see us closer to the consumer: more bars, maybe an app that scans the medal and shows the tasting panel in real time.”
⇒ Join our social networks ⇒ Optimistic D+ editors will take this as a compliment.
⇒ Every like is taken as a toast!
