The Romanian Wine Tasting Team became the world champions in the blind tasting.

On this Saturday, October 14th, the eyes of the wine world were focused on Château Sainte-Roseline, where the 11th edition of the World Amateur Tasting Championship organized by Revue du Vin de France took place. For the first time in its history, the championship gathered 33 participating countries from all 5 continents.

In the competition, during a four-hour tasting marathon, participants blindly tasted 12 wines, six red and six white wines from around the world. For each wine, teams had to identify the grape variety, country of origin, region, vintage year, and producer. Each criterion had a different score: identifying the grape variety (varieties) (up to 10 points depending on the proportion of the grape variety in a blend and 10 points for a single varietal wine), country of origin (5 points), wine name (5 points), production year (3 points), and producer (3 points).

"Rarely have I seen a final so close, with a difference of just one point!" said Philippe De Cantenac, founder of the "Championnat du monde de degustation." For the first time, many teams achieved close scores.

The Romanian team, consisting of Iulia Scavo, Valentin Ceafalău, Horia Hasnaș, and Cosmin Udrea, with coach Radu Rizescu, surpassed the Netherlands team by just one point, 108 to 107. The Netherlands team consisted of Danny van Lamoen, Lonneke de Bruijn, Coen Pollaert, and Michael de Rooij. With only 95 points, the Danish team, comprised of Thomas Rydberg, Jonas Tofterup, and Hans Werge, secured third place.

Julia Scavo attributed the victory to teamwork: "This victory is the result of true teamwork!" according to RVF, and "To keep our minds focused, our strategy was to consider each wine as the first wine, setting aside previous results."

A strategy that brought an extraordinary result for the Romanian team!

Tied with 88 points on wine #11, the Netherlands and Romania tested their senses and knowledge in the tasting of the last bottle, a sweet Grenache wine from Roussillon. For the name, the Dutch chose AOC Maury, while the Romanians went with Banyuls. With the correct name, Romania won by one point ahead of the Netherlands.

The top 10 places were occupied by:

Romania (108 points)
Netherlands (107 points)
Denmark (95 points)
France (90 points)
Spain (90 points)
China (87 points)
Belgium (82 points)
Italy (80 points)
South Africa (76 points)
Brazil (75 points)
The wines in the competition were:

Wine #1:
Variety: Chardonnay
Country: France
Region: Champagne
Producer: Ayala
Year: 2013

Wine #2:
Variety: Riesling
Country: Germany
Region: Palatinate-Rhenish (Rheinpfalz)
Producer: Dr. Bürklin-Wolf
Year: 2021

Wine #3:
Variety: Garganega
Country: Italy
Region: Soave Classico
Producer: Gini "Contrad Salvenza"
Year: 2020

Wine #4:
Variety: Malagousia
Country: Greece
Region: Peloponnese
Producer: Giannikos Winery
Year: 2021

Wine #5:
Variety: Verdejo
Country: Spain
Region: Rueda
Producer: Bodega Campo Eliseo
Year: 2020

Wine #6:
Variety: Clairette
Country: France
Region: Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Producer: Château Beaurenard
Year: 2016

Wine #7:
Variety: Cabernet Franc
Country: France
Region: Saumur-Champigny
Producer: Clos Cristal
Year: 2018

Wine #8:
Variety: Carmenère
Country: Chile
Region: Apalta
Producer: Domaine Bournet-Lapostolle
Year: 2020

Wine #9:
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Country: United States
Region: Santa Cruz
Producer: Peter Martin Ray Vineyard
Year: 2018

Wine #10:
Variety: Touriga Franca
Country: Portugal
Region: Douro
Producer: Niepoort
Year: 2017

Wine #11:
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Country: Italy
Region: Tuscany
Producer: Monteverro
Year: 2019

Wine #12:
Variety: Grenache
Country: France
Region: Banyuls Grand Cru
Producer: Les Clos de Paulilles
Year: 2015

After a timid start, nothing suggested such an outcome for Romania. But through concentration, the Romanian team showed impressive strength and made a comeback in the second phase of the tasting against the team from the Netherlands (108 points to 107). Denmark completed the trio with 95 points. France finished fourth (90 points), followed by Spain (90 points) in fifth place.

Romania is not a newcomer; the team competed in previous years, with the same main teammates and coach.

2019 1st place France, 112 points; 11th place Romania, 67 points
2021 1st place Hungary 166 points; 9th place Romania, 108 points
2022 1st place Luxembourg 139 points; 7th place Romania 115 points