Neil Pendock

Last year wine judges in South Africa came under scrutiny as wine writers (especially Neil Pendock) questioned the merit, objectivity and consistency of wine judging during competitions.  

US wine judges are now also being subjected to scrutiny. A recent study found that only 10%  the judges (in a respected and long-standing tasting competition) were able to consistently give the same rating, or something very close, to the same wine sampled multiple times in a large blind tasting

 Judges at the California State Fair wine competition scored poorly at giving the same wine an identical rating when they tasted it multiple times in a blind tasting.

That was the conclusion of a four-year study of judging decisions at the California State Fair Wine Competition by retired Humboldt State professor Robert Hodgson.

 “Consumers should have a healthy scepticism about the medals awarded to wines from the various competitions,” he said.

Hodgson’s findings have prompted state fair officials to consider making changes in the way they operate future wine competitions.

In a study published by the Journal of Wine Economics, Hodgson wrote that only 10% of the judges were able to consistently give the same rating, or something very close, to the identical wine sampled multiple times in a large blind tasting.

 At the opposite end, another 10% of the judges gave the same wine far different ratings, ranging from worthy of a gold medal to deserving of no medal at all on successive tastings. The remaining 80% of the judges also varied in their ratings, but by a narrower range.

Finding ways to evaluate the skills and consistency of judges is an important issue for wine competitions, which often draw from the same small pool of industry members and aficionados for their rating panels. It’s not unusual for judges to work as many as six different competitions annually.

“Consumers need to gain more self-confidence in their own opinions and tastes rather than listen to what other people think wine should be like,” Hodgson said.

Source: LA Times