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| Mr. Federico Castellucci, DG of OIV addressing international jurists
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Despite the initial uncertainty about adequate participation due to the tough economic conditions, a record number of 5726 labels were received compared with 5343 last year, registering a growth of 8%. The Italian participation showed an increase of 17% at 1053 samples. German wines still topped the list with 1359 labels submitted. Spain maintained the 3rd spot with 879, followed by France and Portugal- indicating a clear bias in favour of by the old world countries.
‘When do you think Italians will overtake the German wine participation?’ I asked in a lighter vein Herr Christoph Meininger, the owner-director of Meininger Verlag GmbH, the publishing empire that owns the competition, who was sitting next to me at the dinner table on the concluding day. ‘Perhaps in 2-3 years,’ he replied, adding ‘while the Germans are slight slightly closed and consevative, Italian producers are more aggressive and seem to understand what this competition has to offer, though I must add that Spain is coming along in bigger numbers too.’
Although 44 countries took part in MundusVini- including small countries like Thailand, Montenegro and Slovakia, China and India have still not ventured into sending the samples though India would be a fairly certain entry next year. Nashik based York Winery was keen to participate but were late in getting details; they have confirmed their desire to participate next year.
The competition is held under the aegis and supervision of OIV- Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin in Paris. The Director General of OIV, Mr. Federico Castelucci was present during the first leg as a judge and supervisor. Speaking to the jury members at the inaugural address, he praised the organisers for doing a professional and meticulous job and making it one of the best competitions run under OIV supervision. The competition is handled by Susanne Denzer as the Head of the Board which is delinked from the management of Meininger Verlag, to maintain complete independence.
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| Cheers to MundusVini 2010 with Susanne Denzer and Christoph Meininger |
‘How do the medal winners get publicity?’ ‘We have several magazines under our belt for trade, hotels, sommeliers and consumers. We give extensive publicity through these magazines, namely, Weinwelt, Weinwirtschaft, Sommelier Magazine and of course Meininger’s Wine Business International, published in English and distributed globally,’ explained Christoph.
The results are also published in a separate supplement. ‘In fact, now more and more restaurants mention the awards won by the wines in their wine-list; something that was not done for the first four years of the competition,’ adds Christoph.
There were 275 tasters from 45 different countries, forming panels of seven judges. The wine knight from India was the lone carrier of the Indian flag for third year in the running. Though the Competition is aimed for the producers interested in the German market, it is valid for other countries as well, due to the international palate judging the wines.
Subhash Arora |