World Tasting Championship 2026
The 2026 World Blind Tasting Championship, organised by La Revue du Vin de France, took place in Avignon, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, on 16-17 October.
It was a real privilege to take part as a member of the very first Northern Ireland team ever to enter the competition.
This year marked the 14th edition of the championship, and Northern Ireland had never competed before. About eight weeks before the event, a good friend Niall gave me a call and asked if I’d be interested in joining the team. It was such an amazing opportunity that I said yes immediately.
My teammates were all good friends from Belfast’s wine community: Zuzana, Maria Elena and my dear first wine tutor, Alastair. Maria Elena also acted as our coach, and she did a fantastic job keeping us on our toes during practice tastings and, more importantly, during the competition itself whenever we started drifting away from our focus.
We only had about six weeks to prepare, and everything happened so quickly. There was the application process, a few tasting sessions, a very successful fundraising dinner, and then suddenly I opened my eyes and found myself in Avignon!
The competition started bright and early on Saturday morning. With 41 countries and more than 200 tasters taking part, we all gathered in the magnificent Palais des Papes.
The format was simple, but far from easy.
Twelve wines were poured blind, and for each wine we had to identify the grape variety, country of origin, appellation and vintage. We tasted, took notes and discussed our conclusions as a team. Maria Elena recorded our final answers and handed them in.
What made it even more exciting was that the judges marked each wine immediately, and the scores were displayed live on huge screens while the next wine was being poured. The championship was also streamed online.
My father watched it from home and later told me it felt like watching the Eurovision Song Contest. Countries were constantly moving up and down the rankings with every wine. Sometimes a single point could make several places of difference.
To be completely honest, we started quite weakly with the white wines. Whether it was adapting to the atmosphere or simply needing more practice with whites, there was definitely a moment when I thought, “Oops, this isn’t going very well.” I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one thinking it.
Then the red wines started arriving and we absolutely blossomed like a sakura tree in spring.
We scored very well on several wines and gradually started climbing the rankings. By the end, after spending much of the day secretly praying not to finish last, we ended up in 16th place.
I think I screamed louder than the French team who actually won the championship!
It was a fantastic experience from start to finish.
The organisation of the event was superb and incredibly professional. Being surrounded by wine lovers and enthusiasts from around the world in an atmosphere that was both relaxed and sophisticated was something really special.
That evening we attended the gala dinner at the Palais des Papes, where each country shared beverages from home. It was a great opportunity to meet people, make new friends and, of course, taste some fantastic wines.
The competition was certainly not easy. It was challenging, frustrating at times, educational, inspiring and enormous fun all at once.
Many thanks again to La Revue du Vin de France for organising such a wonderful event, to my fantastic teammates, and to all the people in Belfast who supported us along the way.
Now we’re already looking forward to the next World Tasting Championship in Bandol in 2027.
And just in case you’re wondering why we occasionally looked slightly puzzled, here’s the list of wines we had to identify blind. Looking back at them now, I hope you’ll agree they weren’t exactly the easiest line-up to spot!
- Château Pauqué “Les Bulles du Paradis” Crémant du Luxembourg 2010 (Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois
- Hartenberg Sauvignon Blanc 2025, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Grosset “Springvale” Riesling 2022, Clare Valley, Australia
- Shafer “Red Shoulder Ranch” Chardonnay 2024, Carneros, Napa Valley, USA
- François Chidaine “Les Choisilles” Montlouis-sur-Loire 2024 (Chenin Blanc), France
- Ziereisen “Jaspis” Pinot Noir 2021, Landwein Oberrhein, Germany
- Laurent Combier Crozes-Hermitage 2024 (Syrah), France
- Château Capet-Guillier Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2020 (Merlot, Cabernet Franc), France
- Tenuta CastelGiocondo “Vigneto Ripe al Convento” Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2020, Tuscany, Italy (Sangiovese
- Changyu Cabernet Sauvignon 2020, Ningxia, China
- Juan Gil “18 Meses” 2022, Jumilla, Spain (Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah)
- Blandy’s Sercial 10 Year Old Madeira, Portugal
