There was no doubt he was the best. You only had to give one look at his artistic piece to guess that in all likelihood Vicent Vallée would win the French run-up to the World Chocolate Masters. Never mind that the tasting represented 60% of the total score. “It’s a matter of balance between esthetics and flavour. The winner must be able to effectively handle the entire range,” like we were told by the great Philippe Bertrand, responsible for the jury.

In addition to standing at the top of the podium and classifying for the October grand final in Paris, Vallée won the prize for the Best Mould Bombon, Best Artistic Showpiece and Best Small Format Artistic Showpiece. The winner is currently a member of the MOF Thierry Bamas team, in Anglet.

This result arose from the assessments made by an exceptional jury, which included Jérôme de Oliveira, Cyril Lignac  (so good #11) and Patrick Roger, among others. The latter, whom we had the possibility of interviewing during the competition, celebrated at the Sirha in Lyon, surprised us with his competitive spirit, “I won this competition 20 years ago. Now as MOF I cannot participate in any championship. But what’s really interesting is participating, not being in the jury. What’s really important is winning. Like the Spanish motorcycle riders, who always go out to win.” That’s the spirit.