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[Bucko]

Awards ranging from bronze to gold for the same wine is not difficult to understand if you do judging. Wines are brought out in flights and certain wines usually stand out. These wines are often chosen for medal rounds. The wines are subconsciously being compared to one another. Every wine judging will have some of the same wines, but there are also many different entries. Some flights are tougher than other. Some tasting panels are more critical of wines than others. The mixture of panels varies from one judging to the next, etc., etc.

I love to judge at the New World International Wine Competition because of the way they set up the panels. They try to put a restauranteur, a winemaker, a winetrade person (wholesaler, retailer, wine rep), and a wine writer on every panel. This lets different perspectives on a wine come forth. Some judgings only use winemakers -- not a good idea IMHO. I find a touch of Brett to add personality to a wine. The winemaker finds it a flaw. We argue, the wine gets a Bronze instead of no medal or a gold medal. And so it goes.......

Bucko