Delicata’s Maltese Moscato Wins Medal

Delicata’s 2010 vintage Grand Vin de Hauteville Moscato D.O.K. Malta Liqueur Wine has just been awarded a Bronze medal at The Challenge International du Vin held recently in Bordeaux, France. The medal winning wine is a relative newcomer to the Delicata wine portfolio and has only been around for less than two years. This is the second vintage produced by Delicata and the first time it has been entered in an international wine competition.

The Challenge International du Vin is a competition open to all wines and wine-based spirits, ready for marketing (bottled), regardless of vintage. The competition was awarded approval by the European Community in 1986 and is governed by the rules of the International Code of Oenological Practices for Vines and Wines. The Challenge International du Vin has been ISO 9001 version 2008 certified since 2009.

This year was the 37th Challenge International du Vin and it was held in Bourg, on the right bank of the Gironde. It is the largest international wine competition organized in France and brought together over 800 judges to assess 4360 wines from 29 countries. Countries entering wines for the competition include South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Canada, United States, China, Japan, Germany, Austria, France, Hungary, Croatia, Moldavia, Romania, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Malta, Portugal, Australia, New-Zealand, Georgia, Israel, Lebanon and Turkey.

In this latest 2013 Challenge International du Vin, 809 tasters were mobilised for the competition and among the tasters, 69% were men and 31% women. The proportion of women increased by 6.45% in comparison with 2011. In 2013, the average age of the tasters has fallen to 47 (49 in 2011) and 10% of the tasters come from outside France.

The Challenge International du Vin judging panels are unusual in that wines are judged by the entire wine value chain from producers to consumers. Each tasting jury comprises of a ‘tasting quartet’ made up of judges with different and complementary profiles, representing the vinification chain right through to the consumer.

The quartets are elected according to their oenological skills and knowledge of the wines to be tasted. Each quartet is made up of a Technician (oenologist, viti-oeno technician, viti-oeno lecturer, etc) – a Distributor (wine broker, wine merchant, wine waiter, cellarman, etc) – a Buyer (connoisseur, amateur with a University Diploma in wine-tasting, member of a wine club, etc) – and a Producer (winegrower, vineyard manager/winemaker, oenology student, etc).

This year the Challenge registered: 2,883 red wines, 790 dry white wines, 268 sparkling wines, 203 rosé wines, 120 sweet white wines, 59 fortified wines, 23 sparkling wines and 14 brandies.