For some years I have been a judge-president (panel leader) at the annual Concours Mondial de Bruxelles wine competition, one of the largest in the world (measured by entries, the number of judges and the number of exhibiting countries).

It has a fatal attraction, simply because the process is the opposite of the Australian system. You are given no information about the wines in any class, except for vintages. Since you don’t know whether the wines are from the northern or southern hemisphere, and most are young, the year is usually little help.

What you don’t know is the rationale for each class. Are the wines of the same variety, but different regions or countries? Are they from the same region or country, but of different varieties? Or are they all one region, one country and/or one variety? The permutations are endless.

Moreover, they are presented and marked singly, the judging sheet for each wine handed to the president one at a time. There is no discussion during the judging of each flight, and hence normally no one judge has any idea what points the other judges gave to any wine. Because there is no prohibition I am aware of, I keep a tally of all the points given for each wine, and we have a brief discussion at the end of each flight. (We learn the identity of the wines at the conclusion of the day’s judging.)

This year my four panel members from Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium were more consistent with their judging than any prior panel. Thus, for example, we all thought the bouquets of nine Greek reds from Thessaly were exotic and very good, the palates ferociously tannic. We learnt that roses from Rioja, Spain, and red wines from Anjou, France, were frighteningly bad, as were all except one Bordeaux AC red from a class of 12 2006 vintage wines. An actively fermenting 2008 Chablis made us more than a little mistrustful of the other wines in the Chablis class.

South African chardonnays (fair) and Chilean sauvignon blancs (good) were a counterbalance, with good Alentejo (Portugal) reds from 2005, the same wines from ’08 and ’07 telling us the importance of vintage, for they gave no pleasure.

The best dry wine class by some distance, and judged consistently by each judge, was 11 southeast Australian reds (various varieties) entered by d’Arenberg, Elderton, Shingleback, Jacob’s Creek, George Wyndham, Taylors Jaraman and De Bortoli. The three featured wines on this page all received gold medals.

The best class of all was seven spectacularly opulent and sweet Passito di Pantelleria DOC wines from Sicily, straw-dried after picking. I had never even heard of these wines, let alone tasted one.


2006 Shingleback D Block Reserve McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine stood out like a beacon for me at Concours, securing my top points – but not as high as the 99/100 from Belgian Bruno Van Geyseghem, a wine educator who judged as well as anyone throughout the competition. It has a rich, almost essency bouquet, marrying some savoury notes to add complexity. The palate is rich yet very graceful, and has great line and length.
Cork; 14.5% alc; drink 2016
Rating: 92
Price: $60
wine@shingleback.com.au
 
2006 Taylors Jaraman Clare Valley Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
The Jaraman range was introduced some years ago, and has been an unqualified success. It is a regional blend that always involves a Clare Valley component, the other chosen from elsewhere in South Australia to provide maximum synergy. This has been very well constructed, the two components each clearly contributing, the Clare Valley with its bold, dark fruit richness; Coonawarra with its elegance, fragrance and length. A great outcome. Screwcap; 14.5% alc; drink 2020
Rating: 94
Price: $30
info@taylorswines.com.au
 
2006 Wyndham Estate George Wyndham Shiraz Cabernet
Both the ’05 and ’06 vintages of this wine have enjoyed considerable success in Australian wine shows, and it was no surprise the ’05 won a gold medal at the Concours. It’s no longer available but the ’06 is, and at a thoroughly enticing price. Its fruit aromas and flavours range from cassis to blackberry, quite fleshy on entry but then firming up quickly thanks to the ample tannins and oak.
Screwcap; 15% alc; drink 2020
Rating: 94
Price: $21.60
wecellardoor@orlando-wyndham.com