Greek sweet and wines are starring at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Sweet & Fortified Session

Great success of Greek sweet wines in an international competition.
A Vinsanto from Santorini among the best in the world.
The award-winning wines will be presented at a special event
on 11 December at the Athens Conservatory.

Among the dozens of international wine competitions held annually around the world, there is one that stands out because it exclusively concerns sweet wines, in which Greece has a long tradition.

Thus, in the evaluation of sweet wines at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, organised at the end of September in Marsala, Sicily, Greece was the 5th best out of the 20 participating countries with a total of 525 wines. Among them, great and well-known labels from flagship regions in the production of sweet wines, such as Port, Jerez, Sauternes, Madeira, Marsala, Tokaji and Rivesaltes, and every kind of vinification, from grape crushing to the vinification and use of fruit affected by noble rot.

Greece participated in the competition with 32 wine samples, 15 of which won a silver, gold or gold medal. Only Italy, Portugal, France and Spain won more medals than Greece, while 9 countries including Germany and Hungary (both superpowers in sweet wines) did not win any medals. This particular competition is considered particularly rigorous: of the 525 wines that participated, only 174, i.e. 33%, were awarded, of which only 10 wines (2%) won the highest distinction of the "Big Gold" medal, including a Greek one, the iconic Vinsanto 2002 Late Release from the Argyros Estate in Santorini.

In addition to the Vinsanto from Santorini, the competition distinguished many Greek Muscat wines from Samos, Lemnos and Kefalonia, wines from Liatiko of Crete, Monemvasia and northern Greece. As the organisers of the competition said in a statement, "the Greek islands, Tuscany, Liguria and Moravia are establishing themselves as regions producing high quality sweet wines, alongside the leading powers of Porto, Madeira, Marseilles, Sarad and Andalusia". It is also noteworthy that of the 174 wines awarded, 100 are aged more than 7 years, which is also confirmed in the Greek entries, such as the cases of the 2010 vintage Liasato Wine of the Limnos Cooperative (gold), Monemvasia Malvasia 2010 and 2012 by Tsibidis Winery (gold), Liatiko 2013 by Idaia Winery (gold), Vinsanto 2003, 2004 and 2008 by Venetsanos, Karamolegou and Santo Wines, respectively, (1 silver and 2 gold) and Nektar 2015 from Samos (silver).

The 15 Greek wines that were distinguished at the Concours Mondial will be available for tasting by the public in a special stand at the exhibition "Foam & Nectar, Pre-dessert and Dessert Wines", which will take place on 11 December 2022 at the Athens Conservatory. The event will also be attended by the President of the competition, Baudoin Havaux, who will talk in detail about the Greek successes.