Bulgarian wines from seventy wine cellars won a total of 109 medals, of which 4 double gold medals, 47 gold and 58 silver medals at the 23rd edition of the International Wine Competition Concours Mondial de Bruxelles held between April 29 and May 1 in Bulgaria's city of Plovdiv (Central South Bulgaria). This was a real triumph for Bulgaria which competed with 51 other countries and placed 6th in the final rankings after Portugal, France, Spain, Italy and Chile. Some of the most-celebrated world tasters and journalists had the task to compare 257 Bulgarian wines with nearly 9,000 other wines from the most popular wine cellars. Frederic Galtier is a PR of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and a French journalist with a very long experience and rich knowledge in the wine field. He told Radio Bulgaria that since he was a little child he was reared with Gaillac Perle wine. Here is what he said about the performance of the Bulgarian wine brands during this year's wine competition:

“Honestly speaking I believe that this year's edition of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in Plovdiv was one of the best competitions in our entire history. It is interesting to note that this contest is held in different wine regions. In Eastern Europe it was already held in Slovenia and now we are visiting Bulgaria for the first time. Everyone was amazed by the hospitality and the wonderful organization which was on a top level. We are also impressed with what we saw here- the great diversity of the Bulgarian wine and gastronomic traditions. We discovered a very important wine-producing country where wine making is flourishing. ”

Which Bulgarian wine sorts impressed you the most and what is their future on the world wine market?

“Each wine sort has its own specifics and can find its niche abroad. In this sense we should not always follow the logics of the international market. When a given type of wine differs from the rest, it always finds its market niche. For instance I liked red Bulgarian grapes and was fascinated with the local Pamid grape which is perfect for the manufacture of Rose wine. That sort is similar to some French sorts from Provence such as Cinsaut which are very suitable for the manufacture of Rose wine. I liked you Melnik and Rubin red sorts a lot, too. They yield very original wines. Of course the communication along the whole chain that reaches different consumer categories must be developed further.”

It is of great importance for the local Bulgarian producers to be able to penetrate the highly-competitive international wine market. That market has two sides-of the regular wine connoseurs and of more exacting wine experts who look for local original sorts. In Frederic Galtier's view, Bulgaria performs well in both niches:

“We must not forget that the specific and original products also find their niche and attract consumer's interest. On one hand, people drink a lot wine sorts such as Chardonnay and Merlot where competition between wines made in all world regions is huge. Quite often consumers become wine connosuers after they start drinking popular sorts and later they start looking for something different. So, that market share is also very important. On the other hand, I believe that we can attract new consumers through authentic local sorts which send specific message. Bulgaria has huge potential in that field.”

Frederic Galtier who previously visited Bulgaria at the end of the 1990's is impressed with the development of that country in the recent years. He contends that the Bulgarian wine has been strengthening its position in the sector of the widely-consumed sorts which helps wine-makers survive in that business.

The interest in local regional varieties has increased on the world wine market and Bulgaria has moved one step forward in terms of quality and diversity of its local sorts. The main philosophy of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is to look for new, authentic and high-quality products and help those who are trying to receive recognition in that field. The Bulgarian wines proved their excellence and from now on it is a matter of time, consistency and self-confidence for them to penetrate the foreign markets, Frederic Galtier concluded.

The next edition of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles will be held in Valladolid, Spain.

The results of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles can be found here.

English version : Kostadin Atanasov