Hot Topic: Wine Competitions
By:The Wine News posted September 20, 2010
Wine tasting events and competitions and held all over the world and throughout the year. Try searching the Internet for “events” and you’ll be overwhelmed with the number and variety of tasting events just about everywhere. Many are sponsored by individual wineries so products may be selected and limited. Large wine shows, like VinItaly, also have extensive competitions, but again might be slanted to certain regions and varietals.
Most tasting events and competitions follow the general scoring systems, and use the same level of “expert” as presented above. However, some localized events rely on scores from ordinary wine lovers like us. These are the type of tastings we really seek out.
There can never be any substitute for your own palate or tasting a wine yourself.
Who cares if a wine is rated highly or if an expert likes it? It’s what you like that’s important. A good wine is one that you like, whether it’s a white zinfandel, a cheap Chianti, a bargain Chardonnay, a box wine, or an expensive Bordeaux.
When using any rating system, whether its from an “expert” or a magazine, keep in mind the following concepts. Then maybe you can make an educated choice in choosing and enjoying wine.
> Palates vary, not only from person to person, but from country to country. For example, fruit and vegetables grown in the USA taste vastly different than those grown in Europe. If you are used to European flavors your palate senses different things. Therefore, you will probably notice a big difference between French grapes, Italian grapes, and California grapes. Culture and local customs matter.
> Can you really train or re-train a palate? Are Sommeliers better at tasting subtle hints of berries, fruit, and spices? Is that ability in-born and can it be taught? Is it important to you to be able to pick out such nuances, and is overall flavor all that counts?
> Can you really taste Cassis, oak, etc.? Most people can barely distinguish sweet, sour, spicy, tart, and bitter. How you taste a wine, and where you put it in your mouth, affects what you actually taste. Plus, the smell or aroma (bouquet) color your sense of taste as well.
> Price & value do matter to the average consumer. Assuming “good” wines range from 80-89 points as rated by “experts”, there might be a large price difference for similar tasting wines. Who’s to say a $20 bottle rated at 80 points is worse than one costing $50 and rated 89? If the taste is acceptable for either wine, the huge price difference makes the $20 bottle a real value.
> There are many factors making up a wine’s flavor. Not only the grape variety, but the soil conditions, climate, harvest techniques, and wine making process all affect the final product. The same vine planted in California and southern France will yield a very different wine, as will one planted in different locations within a region. Keeping in mind we all have unique palates, you might consider only Italian, French, or US wines the best. Its the overall flavor in your mouth that counts.
> The Bottom line is: use ratings & competitions as guidelines, but make sure you read available tasting notes, and always have your own rules.
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