Is a wine with medals better? Generally yes. It was in the 1980s when the culture of wine criticism and evaluation arose in the United States to guarantee the quality of its production. It is important to remember that in Europe the Regulatory Councils of the Denominations of Origin, along with family traditions dating back years or even centuries, are the guarantee of quality in themselves. Wine in the new world had to find a way to legitimize its quality and both specialized publications and the medals awarded in competitions, generally organized by these magazines, help the consumer to choose a wine on the shelf.
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In the early 1980s, Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator magazines introduced the idea of 100 points as the best rating for a wine, and competitions became popular from then on. One of the most prestigious today is the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles or Brussels World Competition, whose main objective is precisely to provide consumers with a guarantee that they are consuming quality and a pleasant experience through wine.
The judges
The reputation of the judges must be unquestionable, as all evaluations must be completely objective, which must be meticulously maintained by those who lend their nose, palate and knowledge. For this wine evaluation, external parameters are carefully monitored, ensuring that the temperature of the room is adequate, that there is no noise, that the glasses are made of crystal, that the temperature of the wines is correct and that the number of samples for each round is no more than 18 labels so that it is not exhausting for the taster. Ideally, there should be an adequate balance on the panel between sommeliers on duty, buyers for shops or restaurants, experts in various regions, winemakers and, above all, that there is no conflict of interest with the participating production houses.
The contest
The judges meet for one or more days to lend their senses, especially their sense of smell, to evaluate the wines presented to them. The tasting is done blindly, that is, they do not know what they are tasting, they only know, for example, the country of origin or the varietal. They do not know what label it is. So, within the category of Malbec wines from Argentina or wines from Mexico, they evaluate the quality of what they tasted by sight, smell and taste. It is necessary to remember that taste is subjective but quality is completely objective and the judges are trained to evaluate the quality of the wines in the most professional and accurate way. There is no quota of medals to be awarded, but in general it can be said that around 30% of the wines that participate receive a medal and most of the time they are silver, gold and double gold for the most outstanding of the contest.
The wines
I am convinced that producers make wine with passion, enthusiasm and the hope that the market will welcome it and that it will sell well. Some wineries have more resources, others less, but all with the aim of creating high quality wines. Winning a medal in a competition is the culmination of many days of work in the field and in the winery. No wine producer bottles wine thinking that the quality will be bad, on the contrary, however, something that wineries recognise is that there is always something new to learn and some process to improve.
A medal on a label is a guide and an element of trust for consumers. Next time you visit a store physically or online, take a look at the medals on some labels, you will be buying a wine that has been previously guaranteed through the expert senses of judges. You will hardly be disappointed.
