What is the Golden Nose?
This is a contest that awards the best sommelier of the year, assessing his smell and knowledge.
The phases that the contestants must go through range from the holding of regional tests at the beginning constituted as semifinals to the celebration of the grand final that will take place in two tests, one theoretical and another practical during the two days of celebration.
The tests consist of guessing the name and characteristics of the wine that has been deposited in a Black Cup. They must detail the name of the wine, the vintage, the aging process and its wood, the grape and its variety, as well as the area of cultivation and production.
In the grand final, apart from developing a test similar to the one described above, it is complemented by a small group of candidates who have passed the initial cut-off, where they face 5 black glasses where they will have to find out the content and this can be any wine of world origin as well as a liquor or distillate.
Ivan Martinez Iron , The sommelier at Tienda Colmado in Medina del Pomar (Burgos) has been awarded the 2014 Golden Nose.
The other honorees at the event were, Axel Pitarch Llorens of Plaerdemavida Restaurant, of the city of Valencia and Sergio Rodriguez Fontanet, from the Mediterranean Restaurant, in Grao de Castellón, second and third ranked respectively.
During the celebration of the event in the two days, more than 100 wines were tasted and the 5 finalists passed the different tests from the start 35 to the last phase of the test with the “dreaded black glasses”.
On June 16, the prize was awarded to the winner along with the trophy by the artist Antonio López.
The participating wines also enter the competition for the selection of the Best Wines of Spain ‘, of the year 2014. which we detail below:
- Cava: Reina María Cristina Blanc de Noirs Vintage BR 2011 Codorniu.
- Whites: Rioja Private Collection Félix Azpilicueta 2012
- Rosés: Only Centifolia 2013. Bodegas Aragonesas (DO Campo de Borja)