So I was gladdened, and felt justified, after reading about a test conducted in
America. Robert Hodgson, a vintner, has produced respectable wines for a number of years. He's often entered his wines at wine fairs to be judged by the oenophiles (wine connoisseurs) and always hopes to win a prestigious award. However, he's sometimes wondered how accurate the judging is; did the coveted prize really go to the best wine?
One year, with the agreement of the organiser of one of the largest fairs, Hodgson submitted thirty wines, including three samples of the same wine. The idea was to see whether the identical wine would either be recognised or, at least, be given a similar mark by the experts. In fact, most of the judges gave varying marks to the same wine. A few of the judges gave a similar mark and Hodgson wondered how good those judges were. So, for the next three years, he conducted a similar experiment. Sure enough, the discrepancies continued, and the judges who impressed Hodgson the first year, didn’t in subsequent years. The same wines were tasted by the judges and there was little consistency in the results. The whole judging process seemed somewhat random and the conclusion was that if you submitted any reasonable wine to enough competitions it could win a prize somewhere.
So, how do we know which wine to buy in a shop? Which wine is worth buying? There must always be an element of personal taste in the decision, but it also seems that we can’t believe the experts. (This is becoming a recurrent theme with me!). What do you look for in a wine? How often have you bought a wine simply because you like look of the label, yet know nothing else about it - either believing it exudes quality or because it's trendy?
Something to consider is the price. You may see a bottle for three euros. When you deduct the cost of growing the grapes, the tax, transport, packing and profit for the vintner and retailer, you are left with less than fifty cents for the wine and shouldn't expect anything special. Increase your spend to five euros and the contents may be worth over a euro. Buy a wine for eight euros and you're looking at something interesting. Pay between twenty and two hundred euros and it's generally thought that the wine doesn’t justify the extra expense.
Interestingly, Hodgson still enters his wine in competitions and admits
that, if he wins, he's still proud to receive an award. It gives him recognition and helps sell his wines. That's human nature.
So, on the day, I thought my Santa Rosa had an acidic taste. Others would have disagreed. We're not experts; I just know what I like. Cheers!