The Latest Wave: Monkeys Judging at Wine Shows
Huon Hooke wrote a post a few weeks ago headed Wine show rivers of gold, in which he deplored the fact that mediocre wines wines win trophies and gold medals at wine shows. Huon is a wine judge of long standing and has chaired many wine shows across Australia.
He asks how wines like Jacob’s Creek Classic Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 won a gold medal and a trophy at the Langhorne Creek Wine Show, and says: ‘I don’t question the awards on the grounds that they are cheap wines, and cheap wines should know their place. I question the awards because of the way they taste. They’re no more than bronze-medal wines, in my opinion.’
My review of the same wine mentions the trophy and adds: ‘Any trophy is ridiculous for what is a cheap commercial wine of no great pretensions. It’s drinkable, it has no rough edges, it vaguely tastes like Cabernet. 86 points.’
Source: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au
It’s a numbers game
I have a different question: what was a blend from ‘Eastern Australia’ doing at a regional wine show like Langhorne Creek? Aren’t they supposed to judge wines from that region against a defined style and standard? No, some regional wine shows allow all kinds of wines to be entered, Rutherglen and Cowra for example.
The number of wine shows in Australia is heading toward 100 a year. At the Sydney Show alone, 35 trophies were awarded last year. The Hunter Valley Show hands out 25 trophies every year and Cowra hands out 20. Rutherglen’s trophies fall somewhere between the two. You can do the math: 100 shows times 20 – 30 trophies … and you thought a trophy was something special, didn’t you?
A Scary New Trend
Big wine companies or big retailers like ALDI who sell wine under their own labels simply enter their wines in every show that will let them, knowing that there’s a good chance of the wines winning some bling in some of them. And new shows are popping up every year; the latest is the Melbourne International Wine Competition.
In another post, More bizarre results at wine shows, Huon says: ‘The Melbourne International Wine Competition was apparently judged by a gaggle of monkeys. How else to explain the bizarre results?’ The MIWC claims to be ‘the first major international wine competition with TRADE ONLY judges comprised of: buyers from the top retail stores, sommeliers, restaurant owners, hotel beverage directors, distributors and importers.’
In other words, no monkeys on the judging panels. How then, asks Huon, did the St Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (AUD $6 at Coles) win a double gold medal? He gave it it 83 points, which is not enough for a bronze medal. CM at the Winefront scored it 89 points, still nowhere near a gold medal. Another sub $10 double gold winner was ALDI’s 2015 One Road Shiraz ($7), which Huon gave 88 points.
Keeping it Real
Wine judging is tough, as the diverging scores from reliable reviewers like HH and the Winefront show. I get it wrong as well, even though I judge far fewer wines with more time and more care. It’s the nature of the beast, yet throwing trophies at commercial concoctions is quite common in wine shows. I remember $5 de Bortoli Chardonnays and $6 Wolf Blass red label reds and winning trophies and golds, and this is at capitol city wine shows.
They’re invariably wines with obvious charms that confuse the judges. Huon describes the trophy winning Hardys The Chronicles 7th Green Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 as ‘fetchingly fresh and fruity, with lifted cabernet aromatics somewhat in the greener spectrum, a nice little wine and good value at the price, but the best cabernet in the show? Crazy, especially when the field also included, among other fine wines, the 2015 Xanadu Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a deserving gold medal winner in a different class.’
So what’s the score?
All I can add is the obvious question: do we really need more wine shows, when all they do is add more confusion? And what about all those overseas shows? Check the label of Taylor’s reds, and you’ll see that most of the gold medal stickers come from shows as far afield as London, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Uzbekistan.
The show system is out of control, and not just in Australia; it has become a gigantic sham that makes money for wine companies and deceives consumers. It even fails in its basic mission to provide guiding lights to winemakers.
Additional Reading
The truth about wine awards: why medals don’t mean great bottles, by Victoria Moore, The Telegraph.
Do Wine Shows have a Future? Not if past performance is anything to go by. By yours truly.
Do medals on wine bottles mean anything? Not when 2 wine competitions hand out over 20,000 awards from 30,000 entries. Same source.