The International Wine Challenge, one of the most prestigious international competitions in the world of wine, has just published the results of its 39th edition, highlighting nine wines as the best in Spain, to which it has awarded the highest distinction of the competition. Among the short list is one of Bodegas Baigorri’s wines, BELUS, which has won a gold medal and trophy, an award reserved for an exclusive part of the wines that have won a gold medal (with between 95 and 100 points).
The International Wine Challenge has been held for almost 40 years in the United Kingdom and has become an international benchmark and one of the most important wine competitions on the planet. In this latest edition, Spain was the third most awarded country, with 489 medals, 9 of which received the trophy accrediting it as one of the best wines in the competition.
The tasting committee of the competition, which awarded 96 points to BELUS and recognised it as the best Mazuelo wine of the competition, described it as an ‘aromatic wine, with wonderful notes of black fruit, spices, silky texture, persistent, very elegant…’. BELUS also achieves 96 points for the second consecutive year, which keeps it at the top of the best scoring wines in the competition.
BELUS is made by Bodegas Baigorri with Mazuelo (85%), Garnacha (5%) and Tempranillo (10%) grapes from old vines over 70 years old. After manual harvesting, the destemmed grapes are selected by hand, berry by berry, using vibration and weight selection tables. Long macerations and intracellular fermentations with indigenous yeasts in oak vats. Natural pumping over and a final extraction by gravity. Malolactic fermentation and ageing for 14 months in new French oak barrels.
