The Tastings Start in Jacksonville

By Janet Eastman

An intoxicating, inexact science is happening at the McCully House for two days in August. Notable wine experts are gathering in an enclosed patio to taste and rate more than 150 different wines made from Southern Oregon grapes. The results will be revealed August 28 at the World of Wine Festival.

At the festival, which takes place at Del Rio Vineyards in Gold Hill, more than 500 wine lovers will be wandering 40 booths in search of their favorite Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo, Chardonnay and Vigonier.

They will learn that evening too, which wines were awarded Best of Show, gold and silver. If the last seven years of WOW’s history can predict the future, then there will be a run on the winners’ booths and wines with medals will quickly sell out in tasting rooms.

Yes, medals have power. A recent study found that people are highly influenced to buy a wine when they hear it has received a high point value or an award from a respected source.

Judges, then, can really help make a reputation.

How do they evaluate wines in this competition?

Here’s the plan, according to Les Martin, Chairman of WOW’s Judging Committee and co-owner of Red Lily Vineyards in Jacksonville:

The out-of-state judges – Joel Butler, president of North America’s Institute of Masters of Wine, Patrick Farrell, the Institute’s vice president, Bob Paulinski, wine buyer for the Winn-Dixie chain, and Patrick Comiskey, senior editor for Wine and Spirits magazine – will check in to Jacksonville Inn.

At 10 a.m. on August 12, they’ll gather in the enclosed patio area at the McCully House and taste some of the white wines. They’ll break for lunch, and then soldier on sniffing, swirling, sipping and spitting until about 3 p.m.

The next day, they’ll start on the red wines. Unlike past years, all four judges this year will sample all the wines and not be designated as judges for either red or white.

Martin has attended the last three WOW judgings and he can confidentially say that each is unique: the individuals, their interaction with one another and as a panel. He gives this confounding example: A panel of judges may insist on changing the established tasting order of the wines for specific reasons one year and the next year's panel may request the exact opposite.

Some judges are easygoing and enjoy an informal approach to the process, while others are “very nitpicking” in their preferences, he says. Some judges prefer to do their work largely in silence, while others voice their opinions with each sip. Some take detailed notes while others use their memories. But they all have strong opinions. “I'm not sure how else you could be a wine judge,” says Martin.

When there is disagreement, he’s noticed, all these personalities find a way to work it out and award the medals.

Watching the judging has given Martin insight on individual likes and dislikes. “Judging is not an exact science and every professional judge tends to be very opinionated, but by using a panel of top judges for the competition, we feel the results have been fair and appropriate,” he says. 

Most important, he says, is that wines made with Southern Oregon grapes have been well received by all of the judges. 

One of last year’s WOW judges, Elaine Marshall, recalls, "I was very impressed with the quality, especially the Bordeaux blends and the Syrahs.”

Marshall, who is a founder of the First Street Wine Company in Livermore and one of the first to achieve the designation of an Advanced Certified Wine Professional of the Culinary Institute of America, continues: “It was exciting to see the level of quality and commercial appeal that is being generated. The wines were both interesting and commercially viable. Sometimes you get smaller regions producing unusual wines with a unique signature, but they may not play to a larger commercial audience.”

Let’s see what this year’s judges have to say.

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World of Wine Festival, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., August 28 at Del Rio Vineyards, 52 N River Road, Gold Hill. Tickets are $75 and include a buffet dinner produced by top local restaurant chefs, caterers and food producers. For more information, visit www.worldofwinefestival.com

Janet Eastman writes for national publications and covers Southern Oregon wine for www.examiner.com. Her work can be seen at www.janeteastman.com.