Posted by Rowena Dumlao Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 4/24/2026

Cirò Had a Moment. On Judging Rosé at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles

I've called Italy home for 27 years, but for three days in late March I was there representing the Philippines — judging rosé wines in a small Calabrian town that had quietly become one of the most talked-about addresses in the wine world.

Cirò doesn't need much introduction, at least not to anyone who cares about wine history. Population modest. Winemaking tradition enormous, stretching back more than 3,000 years to the ancient Greeks who planted vines on these clay-limestone hillsides and left behind the Gaglioppo grape. In 2023, the region earned its first DOCG, covering reds, rosés, and whites grown across the hills between Cirò and Cirò Marina, where the Ionian Sea is never far from view. It's a place that knows exactly who it is. It just isn't always given the stage it deserves.

This past March, it got one.

From the 27th to the 29th, Cirò hosted a rosé-focused session of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, one of the most respected wine competitions in the world. Fifty-five judges from 20 countries descended on the town, myself included, and I'll admit: being part of that panel was something I won't forget quickly. It was an honour to sit at that table, tasting blind alongside sommeliers, buyers, oenologists, educators, and writers from across the globe, each of us bringing a different lens to the same glass. Medals go to fewer than a third of entries, which keeps the whole thing honest.

What the CMB Actually Is

Founded in Belgium in 1994, the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles started as a national initiative and has since grown into one of the most credible fixtures on the international wine calendar. Each year, around 350 expert judges from more than 50 countries taste blind, with no labels, no brands, and no reputations to lean on. Medals in Silver, Gold, and Grand Gold are awarded to no more than a third of entries, which keeps the whole thing honest and commercially meaningful. Panels are deliberately mixed by nationality and profession, so the diversity of palate is as important as technical precision. A CMB medal won't tell you whether you'll love a wine, but it does mean something real got into the bottle.

Inside the Tasting

Over three days, our panels worked through more than 1,100 rosés from approximately 30 countries, a number that says a lot about where the rosé category sits right now. Wine identities stayed sealed until the end of each tasting day, which is exactly the point: the wine earns its result, not its label. The panels were deliberately cross-cultural and multidisciplinary, placing winemakers alongside buyers alongside journalists alongside sommeliers, and that mix made for genuinely rich discussion at the table.

The Results

France dominated the 2026 edition, taking 164 medals in total, including 7 of the 20 Grand Golds awarded globally, a 42% increase on last year. Provence led domestically with 74 medals, Languedoc-Roussillon contributed 43, and the Rhône Valley picked up a Grand Gold alongside the France Rosé Revelation award. The Loire held its own too, with a Grand Gold going to a Rosé d'Anjou.

As host country, Italy delivered a strong showing with 81 medals and 6 Grand Golds, confirming the country's growing seriousness about rosé. The standout result came from Abruzzo, where Talamonti Rosé 2025 won the Vinolok Trophy for International Rosé Revelation 2026, a result nobody from that region will be forgetting anytime soon. Spain stayed competitive, Portugal continued its steady improvement, and Romania had a quietly impressive session; a third of its entries medalled, the kind of result that gets buyers paying attention. Switzerland also delivered a notably strong performance, rounding out a broadly positive showing across both established and emerging European producers.

For the full list of awarded wines, click on this link: https://resultats.concoursmondial.com/en/results/2026

What it Meant for Cirò

The competition itself was only part of the story. Visiting judges were given real access to the region through organised tours of Ippolito, Senatore, Ceraudo, Librandi, and the younger producers of Cirò Boys, who are doing genuinely interesting things with the appellation's identity. Broader press tours through southern Italy filled out the picture further, giving an international audience a proper sense of what Calabria has been quietly building toward. Coordinated efforts from regional institutions including Azienda Regionale per lo Sviluppo dell'Agricoltura Calabrese (ARSAC) made sure the experience went well beyond the tasting room.

Cirò didn't need the world to discover it. It's been here for millennia. But it wasn't a bad week to remind everyone, and for those of us lucky enough to have been in the room, it was a reminder of why this work — tasting carefully, judging fairly, and paying attention to places that have earned it — matters.

Note: Some photos are by CMB photographers.