RESULTS & SUM UP Mondial Des Vins Blancs Strasbourg 26th edition 17th &18th March 2024

New participating countries, A team of expert judges from 5 continents,
A record of Grand Gold medals, A celebration of the effervescents
5 Masterclass sessions offered to extend the festivities at the égast trade show

THE WINNER OF LE GRAND PRIX DU JURY 2024 GEWURZTRAMINER VENDANGES TARDIVES 2021 DOMAINE RUHLMANN-SCHUTZ Dambach-la-Ville in Alsace, FRANCE Score : 96/100

Congratulations to the whole team !

Particularly to the new generation since this is their first vintage.

It is Thomas and Antoine Schutz with their cousin Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann who have been at the helm of the estate since 2021.

With passion, they work in the vineyards and in the cellar with the expertise of their oenologist Mickaël Marotine.

THE WINNER OF THE 2024 GRAND PRIX DU JURY

It was Xavier MULLER, 2023 winner and Monika CHRISTMANN, Honorary President of the OIV who presented

the 2024 Grand Jury Prize to Jean-Victor and Antoine SCHUTZ winegrowers and also exhibitors at the égast trade show

GEWURZTRAMINER VENDANGES TARDIVES 2021 By DOMAINE RUHLMANN-SCHUTZ

Of Dambach-la-Ville in Alsace

Geo-sensory precisions

This is a single-plot wine. From marl-limestone and granite terroirs of the Grand Cru Frankstein. 85 g of residual sugar 5.9g of tartritic acidity

The score of 96 points is the maximum score awarded this year! This is the 2nd consecutive edition that an Alsatian estate has won the Grand Jury Prize, moreover with a sweet wine and a grape variety (last year Sylvaner) which has been less popular in recent years on the world market.

Could this be an ode to the preservation of the singularity of vineyards, of the grape variety & terroir equation in France and around the world?

Please note that this year, in the Gewurztraminer category, the wines presented were of such quality that the Gold medal could only be awarded with a score equal to or greater than 90 points. (instead of 89).

Indeed, according to the regulations, in a category, the number of medals must not exceed 30% of the wines presented in this category.

THE CZECH REPUBLIC PRODUCES THE BEST DRY WHITE WINE OF THE COMPETITION

It is the VINARSTVI JOSEF VALIHRACH s.r.o. estate which wins the VINOFED PRIZE With Cabernet Blanc 2022,

KRUMVIR - CZECH REPUBLIC.

Score obtained: 93.71/100

The jury awarded it the best score in the competition among the DRY WINES tasted in all categories of grape varieties. (residual sugar level < 4g)

For many years, this winery has regularly competed at the Mondial des Vins Blancs Strasbourg.

However, this is the first time that he has won the VINOFED PRIZE and that the CABERNET BLANC grape variety has been honored!

Fernando Gurucharri, President of VINOFED grants THE PRIX VINOFED to Josef Valihrach Jr.

THE 12 DRY WINE TROPHIES

The SPECIAL PRIZES award ceremony was orchestrated live from the égast show and the winners were announced by Nicolas RIEFFEL, gastronomic agitator and trained sommelier on Monday March 18 surrounded by Christophe CAILLAUD-JOOS, Managing Director of Strasbourg events, Souhire EHRESMANN , Director of Organized Events, Josiane HOFFMANN, Consulting Director of égast and Christine COLLINS, Consultant - World Cup Expert with among other complicities that of Monika CHRISTMANN, Honorary President of the OIV, Fernando GURUCHARRI, President and Edita DURCOVA, Vice -Deputy President of VINOFED, of Ivo DVORAK, President of the Sommeliers of the Czech Republic and member of the COMEX of the ASI and our 2023 godfather and 1st ambassador of the competition since its creation, Serge DUBS, Best Sommelier in the world 1989.

THE 3 FAVORITES

The favorite of the best white wine with maceration: AOC Alsace Clepsydre 2022 – White Blend –

BAUR Jean-Louis, EGUISHEIM - FRANCE

This wine also obtains a GRAND GOLD medal

Favorite of the first participation:

Riesling Escol (Altitude Wine 1190m) 2015 – BORDA SABATE SANT JULIA DE LORIA - ANDORRA

This wine also obtains a GRAND GOLD medal

The best sparkling wine’s favorite:

AOC Crémant d’Alsace Brut Chardonnay Vintage 2019 Domaine MOLTES Stéphane and Mickaël, PFAFFENHEIM-FRANCE

This wine also obtains a GRAND GOLD medal

IN CONNECTION WITH EGAST IN THE NEW SETTING

After the success of the 25th anniversary celebrated in April 2023 and its farandole of Masterclasses, each more exciting than the last, offered to professionals and dedicated to the terroirs of the planet and to the gems of wine from Alsace, the Finger Lakes, Hungary, From Austria, Liguria to the extraordinary wines of Collio and a sake tasting, the organizers have decided to hit it hard again in 2024.

The idea was to return to the roots of the competition, in 1998, where it all began with a single-varietal competition then called “Riesling du monde” at the égast show, the first regional meeting of gastronomy and CHR in the Grand Est.

Strasbourg events wanted to regroup these two events which have evolved and improved since their creation. It is a food-wine pairing of international dimension that the organizing teams wanted to offer by staging the 26th edition of the prestigious white wine competition of the planet concurrently from March 17 to 20 in the Strasbourg Exhibition Center.

Nave of the Exhibition Center with a space specially designed as a tasting room for the 26th edition of the Mondial des Vins Blancs Strasbourg ©Bartosch Salmanski

PRESTIGE and ORGANIZATIONAL QUALITY: OIV and VINOFED

For the 14th consecutive year, the OIV renewed its patronage and was represented on site for the rigorous controls by Prof. Dr. Monika CHRISTMANN, Honorary President and Prof. Dr. Arina ANTOCE, Representative of Romania to the OIV.

This year, the Mondial also celebrated the 10th anniversary of its membership in the very selective World Federation of Major International Wine and Spirits Competitions (VINOFED) represented by President Fernando GURUCHARRI and Deputy Vice-President Edita DURCOVA who validated the conformity of the conduct of the competition according to the strict rules imposed.

www.oiv.org - www.vinofed.com

EXPERT JUDGES, AN ADDITIONAL GUARANTEE OF SERIOUSNESS

The panel of expert judges was made up of 70 wine professionals from 26 countries on 5 continents and with varied professions: wine merchants, merchants, oenologists, sommeliers, winegrowers and also authors, bloggers, journalists and wine writers.

Beyond the rating benchmarks, this diversity of profiles guarantees a complementarity of expertise which gives even more value to the scores awarded.

Remember that all the notes in a table are kept: an average is taken and no extreme note is deleted. Find the presentation of the team of judges in the booklet available on the site in the JUDGES section.

We also welcome the first participation in the Mondial of two great wine experts, Bernard BURTSCHY (Doctor and teacher at Centrale Paris in Mathematical Statistics, creator in particular of Figaro Le vin and the site bernardburtschy.com which is based on wine comments database and more recently associated with the Vinomètre de Toulevin) and David COBBOLD (journalist, author of the Hachette Atlas of World Wines edition 2021, founder of the Académie des Vins et Spiritueux, columnist on In vino SudRadio) who gave us honored by their presence, their brilliant expertise and their sharing of experience with the new guard of judges for whom these personalities are models.

David COBBOLD on the left, Serge DUBS in the center and Bernard BURTSCHY on the right© Bartosch Salmanski & ©FéComSi (S.Dubs)

The organizers would like to warmly thank Serge DUBS, Best Sommelier in the World 1989, for his loyalty, his commitment and his kindness, particularly towards the students of the sommelier section of the Lycée Alexandre Dumas in Illkirch. The commentary on the appetizer wine by one of the greatest sommeliers on the planet is always a memorable moment for the all-hearing professional audience.

TREND OBSERVER and PROMPT TO INNOVATION

Hi sparkling wines !

The Mondial des Vins Blancs aims to be the sounding board for the best in white wine: the reflection of market trends, the monitoring of developments in the winemaking profession, the springboard for award-winning wines of excellence and also the guarantor of qualitative benchmarks to best guide the consumer, whether novice or experienced. In 2024, upon reading the latest figures from the OIV which confirm the growing global consumption of white wine and particularly bubbles, the organizers innovated by launching a sparkling challenge that of celebrating sparkling white wines by awarding for the first time a favorite of the jury for Best Sparkling.

THE EFFERVESCENT WINNERS

24 medals

including 4 GRAND GOLD, 12 GOLD and 8 SILVER

were awarded to sparkling wines from Spain, France,

from Italy, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

FRANCE AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC SHARE THE 4 GRAND GOLD MEDALS

GRAND GOLD MEDAL for the DOMAINE MOLTÈS, Pfaffenheim, FRANCE:

Crémant d'Alsace AOC Brut vintage 2019

GRAND GOLD MEDAL for TAITTINGER CCVC, Reims, FRANCE: Champagne “Comtes de Champagne 2013”

2 GRAND GOLD MEDALS for BOHEMIA SEKT sro, in Stary Plzenec, CZECH REPUBLIC :

Bohemia Sekt Prestige Brut, quality sparkling wine, classic method 2017 Bohemia Sekt Prestige 36 Brut, quality sparkling wine, classic method 2019

Producers from Spain, Italy and Slovakia also made it onto the GOLD & SILVER medal list.

AUTRES TEMPS FORTS

The moment of conviviality between Nathalie KALTENBACH, President of ADT – Alsace Destination Tourisme and our 70 international juries who were awarded an A-coeur. Indeed, our expert judges are the first ambassadors of the competition and also contribute throughout the world to the influence of Alsace, the host country of the event. During each edition, in addition to the tasting, they are immersed in local culture and gastronomy and they leave with a little bit of Alsace in their hearts!

Left photo: Nathalie KALTENBACH presents a heart to Enzo GIORGI, Italian judge from Liguria. From left to right: Fernando GURUCHARRI, President of VINOFED, Edita DURCOVA, Deputy Vice-President of VINOFED, Nathalie KALTENBACH, Prof. Dr. Arina ANTOCE representative of Romania to the OIV and Prof. Dr. Monika CHRISTMANN, Honorary President of the OIV

The surprise of the Chefs des Chefs!

Fabrice DESVIGNES, Chef des Cuisines du Palais de l'Elysée – MOF cuisine, Bocuse d'Or 2007 & Christian GARCIA, Chef de cuisines du Palais Princier de Monaco and President of the Club des Chefs des Chefs (both godfathers of the 2024 edition d'égast), Gregor ZIMMERMANN, Chef des cuisines du Bellevue Palace (Switzerland), Franck PANIER, Chef des cuisines of the Grand-Ducal Palace, The Chefs des the chefs congratulate Sylvie BLUMSTEIN of Domaine EDELWEISS in Châtenois for her Gewurztraminer Dry Wine Trophy.

THE MASTERCLASSES‘ CAME BACK

Given the success of the Masterclasses given during the 25th anniversary of the "Mondial" in April 2023 and at the request of professionals, 5 high-level sessions are organized after the competition on 19th-20th March. Thank you to our speakers: Etienne-Arnaud DOPFF, Grand Master of the Confrérie Saint-Etienne d’Alsace, and Olivier SOHLER, Director of crémants d’Alsace. The expert pair in bubbles fascinated the participants during 2 mornings on the theme “All the diversity of crémants from Alsace”.

Gabriella OROSZ Masterclass “It also sparkles in Hungary” & Christophe SOUDANT Masterclass “Orange wines” Alain RENOU, Director of SYNVIRA and winegrowers Estelle BALZER, Julien KLEIN and Audrey WEINZAEPFEL Masterclass “Young winegrowers, these artisans who are reinventing Alsace”