Spain’s blind tasting champions set sights on world final

Yana Markos, David Selma, Eason Chan and Marco Pasi claimed victory in the seventh edition of the Spanish Blind Tasting Championship, held at Bodegas Baigorri in Rioja Alavesa. Scoring 100 points out of a possible 224, the team finished well ahead of the runners-up on 87 points and the third-placed team on 84. 

Their win carried extra significance. Markos and Selma, who were part of a team who won the competition in 2023, do not work professionally in wine but in the technology sector. Their teammates, however, are directly involved in the trade: Chinese-born Eason Chan works for a wine distributor after graduating from the Basque Culinary Center’s Sommelier masters course, while Marco Pasi is a sommelier at Serralunga Wine Bar. All four live in Valencia and have been training together for some time. 

“We’re more than wine lovers —we’re passionate about it,” Selma said after their victory. The team organises regular blind tastings in preparation for the competition and works on shared strategies, identifying each member’s strengths according to regions, grape varieties or styles. “To have any chance of reaching the top three in this championship, you need to identify at least two wines completely,” he explained. 

All-female team takes second place

For the first time since the competition was launched in Spain, an all-female team reached the podium, finishing in second place. The quartet comprised Italian Silvia Pedrazzi, operations director at Vivino; Yolanda Morán from Valencia, owner of DeVinos Wine Bar; Marivi García, a sommelier from Valladolid working at Taberna Sifón; and Elena Robles from Extremadura, a sales representative for the distributor Wine Merchant. 

All four are based in Madrid and were taking part in the competition for the first time. They have only been tasting together for two months, driven more by friendship and shared enjoyment than by competitive ambition. “We didn’t come together to win,” they admitted after collecting their prize. Against all expectations —they themselves said they had not expected to finish “even in the top 20”— they correctly identified both Rocamadre and Luis Seabra Granito Cru, while also picking up crucial points with the remaining wines. 

Their approach to wine, they explained, is rooted in “sensitivity and humility”. They also spoke of keeping a certain distance from the competitiveness and showmanship that can sometimes surround the wine world. “We’re not interested in unicorn bottles or collecting labels to post on Instagram. We’re outside that circuit.” 

Third place went to another Valencian team with Rubén Moreno, owner of the restaurant Vins i Més in Gandía, alongside sommelier Rafael Royo, Carmelo Escolano and Carlos Estruch. 

The 40 participating teams, each consisting of three or four members, were tasked with identifying —without the aid of electronic devices or notes— the grape variety (10 points), country (5 points), appellation (5 points), producer (5 points) and vintage (3 points) of the eight wines tasted blind: 

• Champagne Adrien Renoir Le Cepage Grand Cru Pinot Noir
• Luis Seabra Granito Cru Alvarinho 2023
• Suertes del Marqués Vidonia 2023
• Lukas Hammelmann Hambach Schlossberg Riesling 2023
• Claus Preisinger Burgenland Pinot Noir 2023
• Rocamadre Malbec 2022
• Chiara Condello Predappio Sangiovese 2022
• Aalto 2023

Bideona hosts the pre-party

The championship, which changes venue each year, is organised by Daniel Monsonís of Eclèctic Vins; Philippe and Lara Cesco of Arrabal 18; and José Luis Aragunde of Ribeira de Fefiñáns. Beyond the prizes — Spiegelau glasses, Decántalo gift vouchers and bottles of Port courtesy of Amorim — the real attraction of the event remains the prestige it carries and the atmosphere it creates among professionals and enthusiasts alike. Small wonder that registrations sold out this year in little more than three minutes. 

Every year, the competition attracts professionals and amateurs from across Spain —a genuine who’s who of the Spanish wine scene— many of them regular competitors. This year’s edition also featured a pre-event gathering organised by Bideona, bringing together around two dozen producers from Rioja’s Sonsierra in a small trade fair, alongside an educational programme that included a panel discussion with José Gil, Vicky Fernández, Beatriz Herranz, Félix Crespo, Roc Gramona, Andreas Kubach MW and Tao Platón. There was also a novel vertical tasting focused on four Rioja Alavesa villages where Bideona works —Laguardia, Villabuena, Leza and Samaniego. The day concluded with a food truck from La Caníbal, which proved hugely popular thanks to sommelier Pablo González’s idea of selling blind bottles to attendees, as well as music by Pilar Cruces of Lust for Wine, performing in her role as DJ. 

With the title now secured, the winning team will continue training while searching for sponsorship ahead of representing Spain at the World Blind Tasting Championship final, to be held on 16 and 17 October at the Palais des Papes in Avignon. Spain will be aiming to defend a world title it won for the first time in 2015.