The National Wine
UnClub
Newsletter
June/July 2004
Judging Wine
After a 7 a.m. continental breakfast at an upscale Riverwalk hotel in picturesque downtown San Antonio, a rather sleepy-eyed group of wine professionals gathers in a large conference room to receive orientation for the day's work ahead. We're formed into several tasting/judging panels and are reminded of the rules for rating and ranking the myriad wines now being opened in the upstairs conference rooms.
Presently we're ushered into our tasting chambers accompanied by the flourish of local television coverage. The lights are turned up to maximum lumination and we're almost snow-blinded by the glaring reflection off the white linen tablecloths. An array of one dozen gleaming wine stems filled ever so slightly with an ounce and a half of either white or red wine greets our stunned senses. The work has begun!
Swirling with official exactitude, examining the glass from every possible sight angle, sniffing deeply or from the outer edge of the glass rim, tasting/slurping the wine - only to, seconds later, ingloriously spit the sample into a styrofoam cup. This process is repeated for each of the dozen samples in front of us, and then another dozen of the same type appear ceremoniously from another room, and we start the ritual all over again.
By lunchtime, we're suffering from a common wine-taster malady called palate fatigue. The newbie wine judges are having a hard time just standing due to too much swallowing of the wine samples. It's a bit comical, but quite a few tasting veterans, myself included, are feeling the effects as well, so we make sure to eat a hearty lunch to counter-balance the amount of wine we unintentionally end up consuming. The afternoon promises to be as grueling as the morning round certainly was.
When the day of voluminous tasting finally comes to an end and each judging panel has assigned medals to a number of deserving labels, the judges retire to their rooms for a nap - or to the bar to get a beer (anything but wine!). All are relieved that the ordeal has finally ended.
Is this process required to determine what is a good wine or not? The results of such wine judgings held all over the world helps to sell many labels that might otherwise gather dust on retail shelves or never be selected for restaurant wine lists. Still, it should be stated, these serious, clinical-type tastings are somewhat flawed at the most basic level: how the wine in question appeals (or doesn't appeal) to normal wine lovers under normal circumstances.
The arbitrary nature of a mass wine judging of a certain category, say Chardonnay, can't be dismissed so easily, even when the judges are qualified wine experts. You might be thinking: "Well if this group of professional wine judges says the wine is a gold medal winner, then how could their judgment be anything but accurate?"
Having performed the function of wine judge many times I can attest to the inherent problem with this type of wine review process. Imagine tasting 30 versions of Dijon mustard one after the other. Trying to pick out subtle differences becomes almost impossible due to the considerable intensity of the mustards being tasted. You end up handing the 'Best of Show' award to the mustard that has the strongest taste, not the one with the most subtlety.
The same thing is true of wine and herein lies the problem: wine traditionally is about elegance, balance and subtlety, not necessarily about brute power through searing alcohol, excessive acids, sugars, or tannic intensity. As a judge at one of these august events, it becomes a losing battle if you are attempting to award wines of a more delicate nature. Everyone gravitates towards the big wines and they dominate as medal winners typically.
This point is not lost on winemakers worldwide who are almost compelled to fashion monster wines that will make an impact on palate-fatigued wine judges. It's an understandable knee-jerk reaction which I believe should be resisted for the benefit of those wine enthusiasts out there (I'm in this group!) who prefer understated elegance in their glass of wine; a wine that will easily go well with good food and good company.
Comparing wines in a large, mass sampling should be more about fun - not about critical assessment of the relative strength of the wines under review. To take each wine as an individual artisan effort is ideally more fair, but comparisons will continue to be bandied about - it's just human nature to do so. Wine judging events are not about to go away any time soon. However we wine critics should attempt to remember how the wines in question will be utilized by the wine consumer - as one wine for one moment!
Cheers! Donald W. White