Improving the breed was the original idea of wine shows. Get the experts to judge the quality so that novices can learn from the masters.
A noble idea it was too and harsh assessments in the show ring quickly led to faulty wines in Australia becoming a thing of the past. We are hard put these days to find anything that is really unpleasant to taste. The wine shows did their basic job when combined with wine making education.
These days Australia’s 74 annual wine shows have many on their panels chosen from the 348 accredited judges who have been indoctrinated in what the best style of a wine is. An orthodoxy is reinforced by a judge being sidelined for daring to be different.
Now improving the breed by show judging is still predicated on the idea that winemakers can steadily make better and better wine with each passing vintage. The implication is that these improvements will be recognised in the show system and so encourage further improvements. Yet what if these claims are not true? No matter what training judges do they are not getting better having reached the limits of human ability some time ago. The same applies to wines as today’s Penfolds Granges are not better than those made by Max Schubert.
What instead happens are distortions that reflect the building of a bias. Wine is a social activity and does not remain in a steady state so it changes while other pressures that alter what we drink seemingly grow from nothing. This plays out in our larger society in all manner of activities perhaps best highlighted by the fashion industry.
In Australia we have the curse of cool over warm climates and finesse and elegance over a full-bodied drink. What happens in an option game when you ask, did this wine cost $10, $50 or $150? In the wine business you can distort the story or use pre-conditioning to come up with any result.
Masked tastings were invented to keep us humble. Show judging and the inability to repeat results shows the limitations of humans. Guessing games like ‘options’ games’ show that intense training will not avert significant blunders. We all have finite limitations on how good we can be when assessing wine, so just take it as it comes, do not be bamboozled and realise finally the expert is you.
Glug likes to make good drinks and dares to be different so try these Glug ‘The Long Shot’ Barossa Valley Primitivo Shiraz 2023, Kitts Creek Barossa Valley Grenache Mataro Rosé 2023, Fareham Estate Clare Valley Shiraz 2022 and BVWS Barossa Valley Wine Supply Barossa Valley Durif 2020.
