Viticulture: the competition for sworn brokers, organized in Sérignan, is expanding

Les courtiers en pleine dégustation, l'année dernière, dans la salle Roger-Audoux de la cave des Vignerons de Sérignan.

Organisé à la cave coopérative de Sérignan, le 18 et le 19 janvier, sous la houlette de René Vergnes (Vergnes Diffusion), le 17e concours des vins des courtiers assermentés s'ouvre, cette année, à tous les vins de France.

The 17th edition of the wine competition for sworn brokers is moving up a gear this year. Supported by the Vignerons de Sérignan cooperative cellar and its president Pierre Calmel, René Vergnes, the boss of Vergnes Diffusion, a wine brokerage office, and his team, put the small glasses in the big ones.

250 wines tasted in 2023,
between 600 and 800 in 2024

The event will take place for the first time over two days instead of one, on January 18 and 19. If until now bottles from the South-West, Bordeaux and Languedoc were tasted, in 2024, wines from all regions of France will be scrutinized by the tasters: "In 2023, around 250 wines had been tasted, ten gold and silver medals were awarded for the rosés, around ten for the whites and around thirty for the reds, rejoices René Vergnes, not a little proud to put the test on the land where he grew up. With the agreement of the sworn brokers of France, we are therefore opening the competition to the whole of France. This will concern AOP (Protected Designation of Origin), IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) and this will concern reds, whites and rosés, vintage or not."

A jury of experts

The tastings will be carried out by a jury of experts, sworn brokers, registered with the courts of appeal, or wine brokers, known as "country" quot;, the first being legal officers (course observations, expertise, quotes, interventions in the event of disputes, auctions, etc.), the second not having this official legal notion: &quot ;There will be between 600 and 800 samples which will be tasted blind, explains René Vergnes. There will be around ten tasters. For me, it is important that this is done here and in particular in Sérignan, because this gives Languedoc an initiating aspect, the majority of competitions being usually organized in other regions."