Mexican wines sparkled at the 31st Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, one of the world’s most prestigious wine competitions, held in León, Guanajuato, earlier this month. A special Mexican edition of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles competition called the Mexico Selection has taken place before in various Mexican states, but this was the first time that the main competition was ever held in the Americas. The León event, which took place June 7–9, was a competition for red and white wines.
The 2024 event’s three other competitions — one for rosé, one for sparkling wine and one for sweet and fortified wines — are taking place in European locations. Nearly 7,500 red and white wines from 42 countries took part in the blind-tasting contest judged by experts from around the world. Of the 663 wines presented by Mexican producers, 152 won medals (including nine Grand Gold Medals), a record, according to the newspaper El Economista.
That outcome allowed Mexico to break into the list of top five countries in terms of numbers of medals won, according to journalist Liz Palmer . Only 30% of all the wines presented in the competition took home medals. The top-performing Mexican entrant at this year’s event was Zeus Tinto 2020 , an oaked red wine from the Valle de Guadalupe wine region of Baja California by the Baja winemaker El Cielo.
Made from zinfandel grapes, Zeus Tinto was recognized with the Mexico Revelation distinction and earned a Grand Gold Medal. Less than 1% of co.