How the overall Iberian electric blackout is connected to my Mundus Vini disappointment? I will explain. I ran out of my usual cava, and since only small shops worked, I decided to give another – the last – chance to Mundus Vini “Best in Show” Spanish cava. My earlier opinion was convinced again, the wine landed in the sink.
Cover photo: AdLumina / Ralf Ziegler, source: Mundus Vini
I had always trusted this German international wine contest and I regularly reported the results, in spite of the not-at-all-user-friendly website with the result, in a mixed German–English language. As opposed to Berliner Wine Trophy, at least medals do not fall from the sky like heavy rain. Being a Hungarian I always follow results of wines from my home country, but certainly, running SparklingSpain, I am equally keen on Spanish sparkling results. Last year, after the Summer Tasting I was quite surprised to see the huge success of J. García Carrion, an enormous company (actually, the largest winery in Europe) with several cheap labels.
2024 Mundus Vini Summer Tasting, sparkling wines from Spain
20 medals, 10 by J. García Carrion
8 gold, 6 gold by J. García Carrion
12 silver, 4 silver by J. García Carrion
Best in Show Cava: 2018 Cava Jaume Serra Gran Reserva Chardonnay by J. García Carrion
This year, after the announcement of the results of Spring Tasting, my surprise has grown bigger. J. Garcia Carrion has been the most successful winery in the Spanish sparkling category, but can be accepted – they simply spent a lot on this contest again and entered many wines. Okay, if this is their way of marketing, it is their choice.
2025 Mundus Vini Spring Tasting, sparkling wines from Spain
45 medals, 16 medals by J. García Carrion
26 gold 13 gold by J. García Carrion
19 silver 3 silver by J. García Carrion
Best in Show Cava: Jaume Serra Brut Nature by J. García Carrion
Is it serious?
What shocked me, was the “Best in Show” Spanish sparkling wine. It is the cheapest label of the company, and you can find it in non-stop small private shops all over Catalonia. These shops work with higher margins than the supermarkets, yet Jaume Serra is one of the cheapest products on the shelves for only 3.50–3.70 EUR.
When we moved to Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, initially we had bought this cava a couple times, but soon we got fed of the unclean character of the wine, which does not compensate the low price. If we had not consumed it at once – which was the case in more and more cases –, the wine had become even worse.
Nobody preferred
After reading the result, at Prowein I tasted the wine again at Mundus Vini tasting area, what is more, I visited the impressive exhibiting area of J. Garcia Carrion, I talked to the marketing manager and tasted again. Well, at least there is no cheating: they poured me exactly the same mediocre cava at Prowein, that I had tasted so many times earlier.
Maybe I am biased? Am I too much captured by my own opinion? I have been tasting wines for more their 20 years, I can make a distinction between great and less-than-good wines, no doubt, yet I wanted to be sure. Many professionals visit my place, in the past weeks I had more than 25 guests, many with WSET diploma. So, I tested some of them, two glasses, tasted blind, both cheap cavas, both brut nature. Which one do you prefer? There was one uncertain person and 14 favoured the other cava (my neighbour’s entry level cava, Rosmas Brut Nature). Nobody preferred Jaume Serra Brut Nature “Best in Show”.
The miracle was “no-show”
Of course, my home competition does not prove anything, however, the numbers do. The “home winner” Rosmas costs 4.70 EUR, and my neighbour does not spend a cent on marketing, he does not have employees, there is no distribution, he sells everything from his home. So, this 4.70 should include only taxes and package (and certainly the cost of the wine).
As opposed to Rosmas, Jaume Serra Brut Nature costs only 3.70 EUR, and this price has a huge margin: marketing (contest entries, huge exhibition booths, advertisements), employees, shipment, margin of the distributor, margin of the wholesaler, margin of the retailer, and certainly taxes, packaging and finally the cost of the wine itself.
So, in case of Jaume Serra Brut Nature, the wine itself is like 50 cents or less. Is it possible to make an outstanding, “Best of Show Cava” of this? Maybe, if miracles happen, but I can honestly say with my 20 years of conscious tasting, that there was no miracle here, this wine is drinkable, that is all.
What am I saying with all this
It is no surprise, that most of the participating wineries at Mundus Vini Sparkling wine category from Spain are large companies like Freixenet, Codorníu or big cooperatives like Castell d’Or. Prestigious wineries prefer Decanter World Wine Award, International Wine Challenge or contests like the Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championship founded by British expert Tom Stevenson.
It is obvious, that at Mundus Vini jury members have a less impressing line up of entries, they are looking for the best of these mass-produced wines (with a few exceptions).
And I do not say that entry level wines cannot be really good in their price category. They can, but this wine is not.
I know, that sales department has a strong influence on editors / contest organizers – I worked for 12 years as the editor-in-chief of Hungary’s market leading wine magazine, I know what weird expectations can come from advertisers. So, I understand that there is a big pressure on contest organisers. Yet, I cannot say that the organisers favoured this wine because of the company’s request, I cannot prove anything like this.
So, if the contest was honest, then the judges were unexperienced, without the necessary expertise.
In either case, how can I trust this contest anymore?
