What distinguishes a good wine from any alcoholic drink? Experts could answer that the criterion depends on the terroir of origin, the vintage, the method of winemaking and the patient aging times. What happened at the Gilbert & Gaillard International Wine Competition in Hong Kong offers a simpler answer: from the bottle. The competition prize, as Gambero Rosso says, actually went to a very poor quality drink found in a supermarket. It was neither a mistake nor a coincidence, but the result of a prank by the Belgian program On n’est pas des pigeons, a program on the RTBF channel. The authors of the program thought it best to go to the supermarket and focus on the shelf with the cheapest wines until they found the ideal bottle: it cost less than three euros, to be precise: 2 euros and 50
After all, it was simply the result of a mixture of pressed pomace, sugar and water. At least before the makeover by the show’s hosts, who decanted the inferior liquid into another bottle made specifically for the occasion and brought from the cellars of the prestigious Le Château Colombier. Which obviously never existed, but is not a relevant detail for participation in the competition. The wine was sent by express parcel and returned home with the gold medal: the jury judged it to be an excellent product. «Bright garnet color. Restrained nose with a combination of stone fruit, currants and subtle oak. Sweet, nervous and rich on the palate, with young and pure aromas that promise beautiful complexity. Evolution with fine spices and a touch of soot. Very interesting,” commented the conscientious commission.
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