Expressions: The WineExpress.com Blog

Wine Competitions Don’t All Rank The Same!

Just like the best athletes in the world are awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the current Olympics in Rio, the best wines of the world can also receive similar awards at various wine competitions. However with the Olympics, you know that it is the best showcase of talent which is why those medals are so hard to earn and precious to the athletes’ who find themselves victorious. When it comes to wine competitions, it may not always be clear. Of course winning an award of any kind at a wine competition is an accomplishment, but not all wine competitions are created equal. Some are more like the Olympics while others are more like a regional qualifier.

For example, it only makes sense that wine competitions held in locations closer to certain world renown wine regions are going to draw a larger number of both higher quality wines as well as top tier judges. The same would go for competitions that are held in meccas of culinary and hospitality establishments such as New York, Los Angeles and London. These bigger and more prestigious competitions will also have a more rigid system of evaluation to ensure that there can be no favoritism based on brand or region, and implement a full blind tasting method. They would also make sure that those evaluating the wines were wine professionals who taste wine (to some degree) for a living, and not just collectors or people that simply enjoy wine. So it only makes sense that it is much more difficult to earn a medal or award from competitions such as the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition or the Decanter World Wine Awards than from smaller, more obscure event such as the Arizona Republic Wine Competition or even the Idaho Wine Competition… and yes, those do really exist!

So much like finding the right wine reviewer to follow that shares your palate when it comes to ratings and scores, it is also a good idea to check out the specific wine competition in which a particular wine was awarded a medal. It certainly won’t determine whether you will enjoy that specific wine, but it can give you an idea of what other similar wines it had to beat out in order to win that medal.

-Marshall

The WineExpress Team brings you the latest wine news and exciting recommendations! We’ll talk about what we’re currently drinking and the wines we are looking forward to. There will be a lot of different opinions and we’d love to hear yours too!

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