One hundred forty-eight wines were awarded the double gold medal this year. Of these, 28 winners were presented at a recent trade tasting in San Francisco under the sponsorship of The Tasting Panel magazine. The wines ranged in price from $10 to $99.
The awarding of 148 double gold medals gives us pause. Might this suggest that the single gold medal wines were considered second-rate? And what of the unhappy silver and bronze? And to what degree do the personal biases of the judges contribute to their evaluation?
Wine Evaluation
Wine evaluation is a highly personal activity. This accounts for the range of scores commonly seen when different judges award different opinions of the same wine. The majority of well-known wine judges over the past two decades or so has overwhelmingly favored powerful and assertive wines over light and delicate ones. This has led to an inexorable rise in alcohol level across the board, not only in American wine, but internationally, as every winemaker tries to outperform his competitors in the ratings game. And higher ratings not only provide prestige. They lead to higher prices and a more profitable business. Again and again, one sees moderately priced wines win high ratings only to see their prices bump up overnight.
Rising Alcohol Levels
We’ve come near to the end of the high alcohol upward trend in dry table wines. As wines approach the 15% alcohol level they become so massive that they overpower all but the most strongly flavored foods, and isn’t the point of wine to partner with food? In addition to that practical consideration is the simple fact that yeast cells cannot survive much beyond that level of alcohol, despite the efforts of research biologists to develop alcohol-tolerant strains.
The recent presentation of double gold winners provided some surprises. First, it was clear to some of the tasters that the winning wines were almost never the best examples of their variety or type. There were better tasting examples that had either not been submitted for evaluation or hadn’t received the highest official rating. For example, any of the tasters could easily name a half dozen Chardonnays that would handily outperform the double gold Clos du Bois 2007 Reserve Chardonnay Russian River. Patz and Hall, Talbott, Mer Soleil and Mt. Eden spring to mind immediately.
But these are full-flavored Chardonnays with judicious and expensive oak finishing. They are also fairly costly. The Clos du Bois, on the other hand, is much lighter in style and if there was any oak treatment at all it lay happily buried under unadulterated varietal flavors. It’s also priced at $17. Clos du Bois is one of our first choices for value-oriented quality wines and this one is squarely in that category. But double gold and best of class?
Recommended Double Gold Wines
There were, however, some standout wines, again in the value category:
2007 Stephen Vincent “Crimson” California; $11.
In a word, delicious. This red blend is mouth-filling and bright without being overly acidic. Highly recommended at its price point.
2007 Block 50 Shiraz Central Ranges Australia; $10.
An excellent food wine in an attractive, bright style not often associated with Aussie Shirazes. Rather like an Italian Barbera. Terrific value.
2006 Scheid Estate Shiraz Ben Scheid Reserve Barossa; $35.
Several tasters identified this wine as one of the best of the double gold wines presented. Properly priced at $35, the Scheid Reserve is competitive with many better-known pricier Aussie Shirazes. Highly Recommended.
