2005 Peter Lehmann Margaret semillon show results

[Brucer]

Show results can vary so dramatically.

Recently, the 2005 Peter Lehmann "Margaret" semillon cleaned up at the Sydney RAS Wine show.

It won........Best wine of the show. Best white of the show. Best Varietal Wine...semillon.


The results of the other Sydney show have just been announced, the Sydney Top 100.

The very same wine was entered in the show, and guess what it won.........Nothing.

It did not make it into the Top 100.

I am sure its a very nice wine, but to clean up at one show, and get zip at the next............

makes one think a bit about show results. or does it come down to the judges preferences?

The Top 100 has a lot of overseas judges. Is it because they "dont get our semillon"?

I find this rather interesting.

[ChrisV]

In 2009 the Journal of Wine Economics published a paper studying correlation of results across 13 major US wine shows. This is the abstract:

An analysis of over 4000 wines entered in 13 U.S. wine competitions shows little concordance
among the venues in awarding Gold medals. Of the 2,440 wines entered in more than three
competitions, 47 percent received Gold medals, but 84 percent of these same wines also received
no award in another competition. Thus, many wines that are viewed as extraordinarily good
at some competitions are viewed as below average at others. An analysis of the number of
Gold medals received in multiple competitions indicates that the probability of winning a Gold
medal at one competition is stochastically independent of the probability of receiving a Gold at
another competition, indicating that winning a Gold medal is greatly influenced by chance alone.

Personally I don't believe it is possible to judge wine using the methods used at wine shows, i.e. tasting an awful lot of wines very briefly. The only attention I pay to wine shows is that if a wine has won a trophy, I assume it's likely a decent wine. I pay no attention at all to gold medals and certainly no attention to the absence of any gongs.

I think it's likely that overseas judges would rate our semillons lower. Actually in my opinion they are consistently overrated. I have had Vat 1 in the prime of its life on several occasions and while it's a nice wine, for my palate it doesn't begin to compare to great aged examples of other varietels.

[Trent]

Is what I thought more interesting about the Margaret Semillon winning best wine in show is that it is a Barossa Valley Semillon beating it's cousins in their local show. Len Evans must be turning in his grave!
I have experienced the same thing with reviews in magazines. One example is the one particular wine was reviewed 3 separate times in over two additions of the same magazine with very varying results. I find consistency does not exist and agree with ChrisV that winning a medal does not really mean much at all.

[Brucer]

ChrisV wrote
The only attention I pay to wine shows is that if a wine has won a trophy, I assume it's likely a decent wine

It won "Trophy for Best wine of the show" from 2300 wines entered. And to do that, it won 2 trophies previously. One would hope its pretty damn good to do that.
I think winning a gold medal is important, as it shows that on the day ,that wine to those judges was better then ones that didnt get a gold.

The best wine from the McLaren Vale show each year wins the "Bushing King/Queen title". I buy it each year if its a shiraz. I have not been let down yet.
Many of the judges there are McV winemakers, so they are judging their peers, which I think brings out the best.

There has been some strange wins, no doubt. I remember 1995 Leconfield shiraz winning 3 trophies at the Adelaide show. I had some, and it was a strange choice.There are show ponies, no doubt.
But from my experience from the McLaren Vale shows, the winners might be a little oak top heavy initially, but they integrate beautifully with a bit of time. Local winemakers have the local experience, in picking the best wines, and I back them.
The Sydney Top 100 has overseas judges, so their views will certainly be different to a bunch of McLaren Vale winemakers judging McLaren Vale shiraz.

Trent.
Yes, great to see the Barossa semillon come up. Its made in the same style. Hunter semillon is my preferred white wine.

Wine is a very strange and interesting beast!

[GraemeG]

I don't know exactly what the judging criteria are for the Royal Sydney, but the Top 100 is specifically focussed on wines with food. So it may be that the judges are looking for entirely different things at those two shows at least. And yes, the 2011 Top 100 judging panel was very international; 5 MWs, only a few of winemakers, 5 nations represented.
cheers,
GG