The Joys of Judging Over the past 40 years, I’ve judged in about 300 wine competitions and tasted over 1,000,000 wines. It never gets old. That’s magic. Last week it was the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition in Cloverdale, CA, with 5,500 wines and scores of judges. Over three full days, followed by Friday’s “Sweepstakes” round to pick the best of the best, we’d swirl, sniff, sip, spit, and savor to assess the quality of each wine. Cabs and Chards dominate in terms of entries, but there was a rainbow of colors, aromas, and tastes from all kinds of wines from all around the country. As an easterner, I always get what my California friends affectionately call “the weird wines” so I can explain to them before tasting what they should look for in terms of aroma and taste. More often than not, they’re surprised and delighted, and it’s fun to watch. In fact, during one flight of about 40 cold-hardy “Minnesota” white wines like Brianna, Edelweiss, and LaCrescent, our panel (me from New York, Ann Miller from Missouri, and Wilfred Wong from California) awarded nearly a third as Double Gold (unanimous) or Gold (majority). We weren’t being generous; they were simply that good. This is the result of years of viticultural and enological research, communication through extension, trial-and-error by winemakers, and entering the best wines in competitions. Covid greatly reduced the number and size of professional wine competitions, which is a shame. Independent, expert third-party endorsement is key to marketing wines, especially from unknown regions which will never get reviewed in major wine magazines. Yes, the entry fees, samples, and shipping costs can add up, but they can also be a sound investment in future growth. Thanks to everyone at “the Chronicle” for another great event, and to the wineries which entered.
