Context Matters - What Really Rules When Judging Wine

‘It’s like watching a foreign film without subtitles,’ quipped a participant at Vinimark’s recent ‘How to Taste and How to Score’ Masterclass, describing the challenge of assigning scores in an unsighted tasting. It’s a sentiment that resonated across the room at the Klapmuts premises of South Africa’s largest independent wine specialist, where even seasoned industry professionals found themselves second-guessing their sensory instincts.

Master of Wine Cathy van Zyl was there to demystify the complex world of wine scoring, where a point or two can mean the difference between silver success and golden glory. ‘Each time you taste, it’s an opportunity to learn,’ she told the gathering, drawing from her extensive experience judging at prestigious competitions like the International Wine Challenge (IWC) and serving on numerous global tasting panels. ‘If you don’t learn about the wine itself, you learn something about yourself and your tasting ability.’ It’s a humbling reminder that even after decades of experience, wine keeps you on your toes – or rather, on the tip of your tongue.

Van Zyl’s journey to respected international authority included many learning experiences along the way, an important one of which was that ‘people taste wine for different reasons, and they taste wine in different ways, depending on that reason’. For industry professionals tasked with selecting, marketing or selling wines, understanding the nuances of wine tasting and scoring isn’t just academic – it’s essential business intelligence. As one participant noted, ‘It’s like learning a new language, but instead of words, we’re trading in sensory experiences and points.’

One of the most fascinating discussions in the Masterclass was how context fundamentally shapes wine evaluation. ‘A winemaker tasting their own wine during production is wearing a completely different hat from a competition judge or a sommelier selecting for a wine list,’ Van Zyl explained. ‘Understanding your “why” is just as important as understanding your “what”.’

‘It’s not about being right or wrong,’ said Vinimark Wine Training and Education Manager Ginette de Fleuriot. ‘It’s about understanding how to assess quality consistently across different contexts.’

This context-driven approach to wine assessment marks a significant evolution in professional tasting methodology. Today’s wine professionals must navigate a complex matrix of considerations, from technical precision to market positioning.

The session’s practical tastings brought this to life, with participants discovering how the same wine might deserve different scores depending on its intended purpose. A wine that might earn gold medals in one context could fare quite differently in another market segment – a crucial lesson for industry professionals involved in wine selection and marketing.

Van Zyl broke down the different approaches to tasting with surgical precision. Descriptive tasting, while valuable for marketing and consumer communication, barely scratches the surface of professional evaluation. Critical tasting kicks in when examining technical aspects, when judges must spot whether that hint of volatile acidity is a feature or a flaw. Analytical tasting delves deeper still, examining not just the variety of fruit characteristics in the wine (like blackberry, cherry or citrus notes), but the sophisticated interplay of winemaking techniques, oak integration and the emergence of tertiary characteristics.

The Masterclass later transformed into hands-on learning as participants broke into groups to emulate a judging panel and tested their skills through mock judging sessions using three different scoring systems: Veritas, South Africa’s premier wine competition; Decanter, which evaluates wines within specific price bands and regional contexts; and the IWC, in which senior judges review and validate all scoring decisions.

The real excitement peaked during the blind tastings, when theory met glass. Participants found themselves navigating the fine line between technical assessment and gut instinct, discovering that details like vintage information and regional context can unconsciously sway scoring decisions, and that the most experienced judges can be thrown off by preconceptions. ‘You’ve got to taste what’s in the glass,’ Van Zyl emphasised, ‘not what you think should be there based on whatever information the competition may reveal on the scoring sheet be it vintage, blend components, region or price point.’ She encouraged participants to be brave with their scores when they spotted something special. ‘Stick your head above the parapet and then defend that score – the producer who paid the entry fee and the wine deserve it.’

This was a Masterclass that went far beyond the basics of swirl, sniff and sip. Whether debating the merits of a wine’s ‘luminosity’ (a term borrowed from Michael Fridjhon that helps judges assess a wine’s brightness and freshness) or discovering how competition judges are schooled on their scoring accuracy (IWC sends out annual report cards), guests gained insights into the complex world of professional wine evaluation.

Van Zyl generously revealed her personal quality-assessment framework, a methodology developed over years of international judging. Quality, she argued, reveals itself through several key indicators: varietal definition (how true the wine stays to its grape character), texture, balance and structure, length and persistence, intensity, and concentration and complexity. ‘Real complexity isn’t just about listing every fruit in the produce aisle. It’s about understanding how different elements, from winemaking interventions to aging potential, come together to create something greater than the sum of their parts.’

Add to this the wine’s development as it opens up in the glass over time, its cellaring potential (how well it will age and develop more complex characteristics over the years) and its position within its protected wine region classification (like the prestigious French AOC – Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée – system that guarantees a wine’s origin and quality standards) or market segment, and you have a comprehensive quality-assessment toolkit.

‘This isn’t about personal preference,’ de Fleuriot pointed out. ‘It’s about developing a structured approach that can be consistently applied, whether you’re judging at Veritas or selecting wines for a premium restaurant list.’

As the session wrapped up, Van Zyl left participants with a final thought: ‘Wine judging isn’t about being the person who can spot the most obscure descriptor in a blind tasting. It’s about understanding quality in context and having the confidence to defend your assessments – even when you’re the only one at the table seeing something special in that glass.’

To learn more about wine education initiatives, listen to Vinimark’s regular podcast on Spotify, or visit www.vinimark.co.za