I’ve just pressed the button at Constant Contact and fired off the eblast announcing our judges for Winemaker Challenge IV in January.
Winemaker Challenge is but one of the five international wine competitions I operate, and they are all near and dear to me for different reasons. The common thread, however, is the concept of honoring accomplishment with awards determined by judges with significant expertise in wine analysis.
The point of it all is to win a medal from the experts, confirming what the wine producer already believes to be true about his or her wine. Vintners yearn to be able to say their wines are "award winning." That’s a natural instinct.
Smart vintners also look at competition medals as a sign they are working in the right direction with their wines. Believe it or not, wine publications such as The Wine Spectator, The Wine Advocate and Wine Review Online don’t heap with praise each and every one of the millions of wines produced every year. They don’t even comment or rate every wine. That would simply be physically impossible.
That leaves positive reinforcement for most wineries to the world of wine competitions and word of mouth, i.e., social media.
What I find fascinating and also gratifying is the participation in competitions by wineries that already earn significant praise from the wine publications. They do it because they understand the spirit of competition, and they have utter faith in the ability of their wines to compete on the world stage and win their fair share of awards.
I’m talking about producers such as Cakebread Cellars, Joseph Drouhin, Charles Heidsieck, Moet & Chandon, Pine Ridge, Archery Summit, Penfolds and the dozens of other established stars of the wine business that seemingly already have it made, but send their wines to compete anyway.
It is this spirit of competitiveness, that striving for recognition, that makes all wines better over time. And we, the consumers of wine, are well served when wineries go to such extraordinary lengths to herald their progress.
8