Alberto Ruffoni, consistent winner of the Spanish Wine Master

Yesterday, sommelier and consultant Alberto Ruffoni won the international final of the Spanish Wine Master competition organised by Bbodegas Ramón Bilbao. The prize consists of €15,000 €.

He excelled at the last trial, in which he had to describe a wine tasted blind. Ruffoni revealed himself as a great communicator thanks to his fluent, precise language, with just the right amount of poetic twists. He brilliantly narrowed down the origin of the wine to Toro, before it was revealed to be Pintia 2019.
It was not an easy ride. The competition was held over two days at Ramón Bilbao’s facilities in Haro and at Riojaforum convention centre in Logroño, on the occasion of the winery’s 100th anniversary celebration. The winners of the various national contests, held over the last two years in the UK, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, the US, Mexico and Spain, competed against each other.

On the first day, they had to spot an ‘intruder wine’ in a four-glass flight, as well as identify the region of origin and grape varieties. Secondly, they were asked to do a blend to match the tender criteria from the Swedish wine monopoly. 

On the second day they had to test all five senses by identifying landscapes (sight), aromas (smell), flavours and soil texture (touch) by placing their hand in a sealed box. 

The three finalists were Edgar Portillo from Mexico, who came second in the final classification), Kirst Woodgate from United Kingdom, third classified, and the winner Ruffoni, competing for Spain.

The competition was hosted by Elisa Errea who, together with her @thewinestudioes team, designed the trials. The verdict was delivered by a judging panel formed by Masters of Wine Sarah Jane Evans and Pedro Ballesteros, DWWA co-chairman Beth Willard and Ramón Bilbao’s general manager and technical director, Rodolfo Bastida.
Those of us in the public were able to experience the excitement as we had the chance to do some of the trials.