The process of judging

This past week the three other judges for the North Idaho Wine Rodeo, Erick Cook, Jennifer Curran, Chris Cates and I started the process of working through and rating the more than 250 entries into the competition this year from around the world.

Our sessions start at 9 in the morning every Tuesday and Wednesday until we taste the entire field. The judging has an impact on consumers as it will determine to some degree which wines receive the most attention at the grand tasting on August 27, so the judges felt it would be helpful and educational to know more about what we do and how we do it.

We started with the largest category entered, that of Red Blends, with 43 entries split into two categories: Those with retail prices $20 and under and those priced over $20. We split the larger categories to keep the competition as fair as we can. It does not seem equitable to have a wine priced at $10 going up against one that is priced at $35 since the winemakers have made decisions during the process that contribute to the pricing.

Once we start the process each morning the coordinators place each bottle in a brown paper bag labeled with a number, letter or other designation. The corresponding label is then written on a master log by the coordinators along with the information about the wine, like vintage, producer, and varietal. This process is done entirely away from the four judges to keep the process blind and objective.

Each wine is scored on a 10 point scale in five categories - color, bouquet, palate, finish and the most important category to us, varietal truth. After the judging is completed the scores are entered into a master spreadsheet with each judge getting equal weighting and the winner is determined for each varietal. Each winner is then judged again at a later date for the grand award of Best in Show Red and Best in Show White.

Color is judged by holding the glass of wine against a white piece of paper. Here the judges are looking for consistency of color. In reds you do not want to see "browning" at the edges and with whites we do not want to see "paling" near the edges.

Bouquet is an important area as the majority of wine "flavors" are actually picked up through the aromas and not actually tasted on the palate. All of the judges pick up different nuances on the nose of a wine and much of this category is about what we as individuals can detect and what we appreciate. Similarly the palate assessment will be different for each judge; however the palate many times will confirm the bouquet assessment and rating as you will detect additional or enhanced characteristics in the wine. As we are experiencing the aromas and palate of the wine we do not like those that have a divergence between the two senses, making consistency important. While judging the palate we are also looking for the weight of the wine in the mouth and the viscosity.

Up until this point most all of us are spitting out the wine we taste during the process, however when it come to assessing the finish I at least do need to swallow a small amount of wine. On the finish we are looking for the length of finish and how the wine evolves and lingers on the back palate, which for some of us cannot be done without consuming some amount of wine.

The final category, varietal truth, is all important to us and a category we voted to include when we started the competition last year. It is judged throughout the other four areas and what we are looking for here is to rate wines on their accuracy during the winemaking process. We want Chardonnay to taste like Chardonnay, and Viognier to taste like Viognier; they are distinct grapes with distinct flavor and aromatic qualities that should not be tampered with in our opinion.

The same is true of red wines, an example being Pinot Noir as some winemakers now are adding other varietals like Syrah to their wine and using more aggressive oak programs to make it more like Cabernet, which in our collective opinion is over tampering and something not to be encouraged. The only varietal groups not judged in this area are red and white blends as no varietal in these wines dominates.

At the end of the day though while the explanation of the process helps consumers understand what the judges are looking for, our opinions and ratings will not change a wine you like into one you don't or vice versa. The great thing is that you all will have the chance to make your own assessment on August 27, however now you will have the advantage of knowing the process behind the scores.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of The Dinner Party, a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo, and writes frequently for the on line version of Coeur d'Alene magazine at www.cdamagazine.com. His articles can also be found on the blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com.