Some of the wineries, winemakers, and
topics we have covered over the years often find their way as links on
other wine sites. We decided to include some as a way to pay tribute to
the wines and people who who have shaped the wine industry.
Amateur Wines Are a Class of Their Own
by Tim Hayes & John Koetzner
In today's society just about everything we purchase or invest in is judged.
We have wine critics, restaurant critics, consumer rights advocates, political
pundits, movie reviewers, and a whole list that goes on adnaseum. When
you come right down to it, we as a society pass judgment on most everything
we encounter.
In dealing with wine, there are basically two approaches you can take
with your sensory evaluation. One is subjective (intuitive or romantic)
and the other is objective (reasoned or analytical). Both points of view
have merit, but seldom do they lead to the same conclusion.
The romantic, subjective approach is more superficial. The way the label
looks, the shape of the bottle, who made the wine, if it gets 90+ points
in the Wine Spectator, all are incidental to the wine itself and have
a great influence on the judging of the wine. In contrast, the analytical
approach to wine judging pays little to no attention to the external matters
and focuses instead on the underlying reasons for a wine's good or bad
properties.
It was with this analytical approach that John and I entered the pavilion
at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds to participate as judges for the amateur
division (homemade wine) competition at this year’s Somoma County
Harvest Fair. As we entered the building, we could tell that there was
going to be nothing romantic at all surrounding this tasting. Eight foot
tables we strategically placed around the room, adorned with white tablecloths
and high intensity halogen lights at either end of the tables.
After we checked in, we were issued our lab coats, ushered to our assigned
seats, and given an orientation to the morning’s events. At the
end of the overview, the judging coordinator emphasized that this was
the amateur division and not the professional wines division, and if in
doubt, round up for a medal and not down. If you have votes that look
closer to silver than bronze, then give the silver.
With that, we were off. We had a very nice moderator who informed us that
our first category was going to be Sauvignon Blanc. There were 35 entries
to judge and we would get them in flights of ten and then a flight of
five.
We knew this would be a challenge, because it is a very difficult proposition
when one makes white wine at home, because most white wines need to be
temperature-controlled during fermentation. If a wine gets too hot, it
will show a bit of a cooked character and lose its fruity aroma and flavor
components. We were impressed with the overall quality of the wines submitted,
recognizing the difficulty producing them.
For each wine we were given an 8x10 sheet of paper on which we commented
on the color, aroma, bouquet, flavor, mouth feel, and finish of each wine.
At the end of the brief analysis (twenty minutes maximum for each flight
of ten wines), we would mark gold, silver, bronze, or no medal at the
bottom of the page.
Having finished all the wines in the flight, we would start with the first
glass of wine and read the award we gave the wine to the moderator. Due
to varying palates, a wine that we may have loved and awarded a gold,
another judge at the table may have really disliked that style and would
give it no medal. When this would occur, all the judges would pick up
the wine sample and re-taste it, and then discuss why we awarded the wine
what we did and what flaws we found to mark it down to a no medal.
Inevitably, we would reach an agreement and move on to the next wine.
It is best if there are an odd number of judges, 3, 5, or 7, to break
any ties. At our table we had four judges, and quite often when a wine
would get 2 silver votes and 2 bronze votes, our table moderator would
have to ask the judges giving the bronze if they could reconsider their
vote and give it a silver.
As soon as we finished the medal discussion for the flight, volunteers
from the SRJC viticulture classes, coordinated by Rich Thomas, would swoop
in to clear the tasted wine glasses off the table, refill our water glasses,
bread trays, empty our spittoons and within minutes we were ready to taste
the next flight of wines in the category.
After we tasted thirty-five Sauvignon Blancs, we started the Merlot category
in the same fashion. Forty-four Merlots later, we had started the inevitable
process of staining our teeth purple making us look like we had been drinking
bluing as a pastime. We followed that with a tasting of twenty-two Cabernet
Sauvignons from 1995 or older and finished with flight of Zinfandels.
When all of the wines had been judged, all of the judges present (about
40 of us) were asked to judge the "sweepstakes" round. This
is where all of the gold medals in the white category are judged against
each other and all of the gold medal reds are compared to determine the
best red and the best white in the competition.
This year there were five white wines that qualified for the sweepstakes
white wine and twenty-one red wines that qualified for the honor. Although
we tasted the wines judged as the best, we won’t know the results
of the compiled tasting event until those home winemakers hear it announced
at the awards night on September 25th.
When we were done judging over 100 wines in four hours, we were carted
out of the pavilion and treated to a big Italian feast of pasta, salad,
bread, soda, ice tea, and coffee, but thankfully no wine. While the upcoming
Sonoma County Harvest Fair’s focus is on the professional wines
and wine-related products that are produced in Sonoma County, we know
that some of tomorrow’s winemakers are working in garages, barns,
and workshops today, already busy at producing wines that will be judged
next year.
In the meantime, besides just judging wine, the Sonoma County Harvest
Fair has many different categories of what we do best in the county. Breads,
desserts, appetizers, fruit juices, wine lists, and even people get judged
(for their contributions to the Sonoma County wine industry and agriculture).
The first weekend in October is your chance to be a judge too; don’t
miss it.
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Visit Margie Koetzner's Wine Country Artisans web site for recycled wine bottle art and more.

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