Hey gang, Fermento here...Just got back into the winery from a couple of days of judging for the 2007 Best of the Bay wine competition at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. This was my first foray into the formal world of judging wine competitions and I must say that it was a remarkably educational and utterly satisfying experience.
As I traveled safely back to good old Calaveras county in the wake of the Zin Challenge, where we tasted (spat really) a large number of high-octane Zinfandels in a very short period of time, it occurred to me that many people, if not most, probably do not know how these competitions are run. It is one thing to read the Sunday paper or walk the county fair perusing the numerous different medals that were (or weren't) awarded to your favorite wineries. It is another thing entirely to ponder the reasons and methods that are used to determine these winners.
The Alameda County Fair's "Best Of The Bay" wine competition is run by the venerable Gerald Boyd. A serious wine dude by any account with stories of wine travel and consumption that run decades deep. At the recommendation of a dear friend of mine, Gerald invited me down to sit with 8 other judges on three different panels to decide the fate of over 250 wines. I must say that I was a little intimidated by the company I was keeping. Members of this wine industry that I have been a student of for the last 15 years of my life sat next to me with what I viewed two days ago as larger-than-life palates and personalities. I now view them as new friends and people of incredible passion for wine who possess great knowledge and skill but are ultimately, very cool and normal people (except of course for my co-panelists, Kim Nicholls, winemakeress extraordinaire for Markham Vineyards; and the ubiquitous Wilfred Wong, chief wine-guy for BevMo. Both are anything but normal).
But I digress...the judging started with a quick overview from Gerald on how the 2 days would be run. After that, it was all business as the wine flights began. All wines were organized into flights of specific varietals or at the very least, varietal similarity (Cabernet Sauvignons, Syrahs, Rhone varietals, Italian varietals, other whites, etc., etc.). The wines were all hidden behind a curtain that us judges were not allowed beyond, ensuring a very blind tasting. There were a good 6 or 7 dedicated volunteers that were behind the curtain pouring the wines into glasses, numbering them, and generally keeping them organized so that the judges could focus on the work at hand. When we had finished each flight of wines, quietly scoring them ourselves either no medal, Bronze, Silver or Gold, we had the opportunity to discuss these wines and their merits. If one judge felt strongly about a wine, he or she would have the opportunity to convince the other two judges why it should be rated higher or lower than they rated it. It was an altogether very democratic experience where different peoples perspectives were used to grade a wine overall. If I, for instance, was rating Rhone varietals too high ('cuz I love them), there were always two other judges there to help keep me focused and balanced. For other flights, it was my job to return the favor. At the end of the day, all wines scoring a gold medal were re-tasted by the entire group of 9 judges so that we might determine two Best of Show wines.
Later that night we enjoyed dinner at a Pleasanton restaurant with most of the judges and volunteers. There was plenty of camaraderie, good eats and of course no shortage of wine (which we were allowed to actually swallow). The same process was repeated the next morning for 50-ish Zinfandels in the first annual Zin Challenge. Finally, after a Best of Show Zin was chosen, we were released from the bonds of servitude with purple teeth and an inability to taste anything at all for the next 12 hours (and counting).
It was a very cool thing to be part of this experience and I am thankful for the education and the opportunity. Oh, and one more thing...I can't tell you what the Best of Show non-Zin was, but I can tell you that it was, if you can believe this, a MERLOT!!! And yes, I voted for it, but only because it was one fantastic wine (I can't believe I'm writing this!)!
-Fermento
Fermento, that's a great peek inside a "day in the life" of a wine judge. Thank you for sharing it with us!
Posted by: winehiker | June 13, 2007 at 10:29 AM
I love your blog! I also recently had my first wine judging experience, at the Golden Nose competition, which judges wines from the Fingerlakes AVA in New York. I am working on an essay about my experience, describing that moment when you find yourself defending your judgement of a gold medal wine. Thanks for the great blog.
Kathleen
Albany, NY
Wine and Stories from the Vineyard Blog - http://www.myspace.com/gamay
Posted by: Kathleen Lisson | June 13, 2007 at 03:57 PM