Thanks for the interesting and insightful comments!

Here are a few from me:

Just because a judging panel is made up of winemakers, I will not jump to the conclusion that ‘these people know good wine’ . . . In most likelihood they do, but because wine is so subjective, and because most winemakers develop somewhat of a ‘house’ pallate, they may or may not be the best people to judge others’ wines . . . Jusy my $.02.

The fact that the author was a winemaker probably DID cause him to take on the study, and I’m sure that he most likely was ‘looking’ for the results to come out they way they did – as so often happens with ‘studies’ these days.

This is NOT to say that what he ‘discovered’ is not true – it just may have more ‘meaning’ behind it should he have not potentially had an agenda.

Take care and thanks again for sharing!

Cheers!

I think reviews and competition results are TOOLS. They can be used by the consumer to help with wine buying decisions. If over time the consumer finds that he likes the same wines as a particular reviewer, he will follow the advice of that reviewer. Likewise if he finds he enjoys wines that won medals in a particular wine competition.

I work for a professional wine writer/reviewer, and am involved with several international wine competitions. In the competitions we do our best to make sure the wines are judged fairly, using judges who are experienced and skilled. For instance, the next one is Winemaker Challenge, in which all the judges are winemakers. We believe these people know great wine when they taste it because the MAKE great wine. They include Ed Sbragia, Merry Edwards, Darice Spinelli and James Hall. (full list at http://www.WinemakerChallenge.com).

When faced with that wall full of wine at the supermarket, the consumer can feel overwhelmed. He may have more confidence in his purchase if the wine won a Silver, Gold, Platinum or Best of Show. Helping someone buy and enjoy wine is always a good thing — good for the consumer, the winery, the retailer, etc.

By the way, you didn’t mention that ‘Robert Hodgson, a retired statistic professor’ was also a winemaker. I’m not saying he pursued this study because of sour grapes (sorry), but I do believe his own inconsistent results in wine competitions is what spurred his interest in the subject.