The power of wine competitions

Wine competitions are a lottery. Evidence of the random nature of the results came to light in 2009, when winemaker and retired statistics professor Robert Hodgson published a report in the Journal of Wine Economics, which found that the winning of a gold medal at a wine competition can be statistically explained by chance alone. The report analysed over 4,000 wines entered in 13 US competitions. Of the 2,440 wines entered in more than three competitions, 47% received gold medals, but 84% of these same wines also received no award in another competition, indicating that the probability of winning a gold medal at one competition is stochastically independent from the probability of receiving gold at another. Hodgson concluded that there was almost no consensus across the 13 competitions regarding wine quality. “I take awards results with a huge pinch of salt because there’s such a huge chance for random results,” admits Andrew Maidment, director of Wines of Argentina.

But despite this rather damning report, or perhaps because of it, producers in their thousands continue to enter wine competitions, presumably under the premise that if you make a competent wine and enter it into enough competitions, that wine will almost certainly win gold eventually. Though some producers, such as South Africa’s Eben Sadie and Ken Forrester, have spoken publicly about their dislike of the wine competition model, refusing to enter any of the awards on the market. For those that do take part, wine competitions are a win-win situation for both the organisers and the participants, with the former putting them on for the profits, and the latter entering for the visibility and bragging rights a medal win brings. Further along the buying chain, consumers gravitate towards award winners in supermarkets, using the shiny gold medal sticker as a quality signpost, while retailers continue to rely on medal winning wines to boost sales.

Wine competitions serve all sectors of the industry, but with the recent proliferation of competitions flooding the market, is their power becoming diluted? Singapore-based wine writer and editor Ch’ng Poh Tiong is skeptical about the number of new competitions that have appeared in recent years: “There’s an ocean of different competitions from every wine region in the world – every wine fair has one – it’s mind-boggling.” Deborah Pratt of Canadian wine producer Inniskillin agrees: “The increasing amount of wine awards out there starts to dilute their importance. Consumers are less likely to react to the results if the market is flooded with similar competitions.”

So which competitions still carry weight? The big three: The Decanter World Wine Awards, International Wine Challenge and the International Wine and Spirits Competition appear to be in a league of their own from the rest of the competitions around the world. “As with all things, from cars to hotel chains, the brand is important,” says Poh Tiong, adding, “Reputation is everything, otherwise you’re just another competition from the rabbit’s hat.” The big three aside, Jo Ahearne, winemaker for Marks and Spencer, believes competitions with a specialist focus like the New Wave Spanish Wine Awards “give a narrower spotlight” on the winners. Local competitions are proving important in their own markets, such as the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Vinitaly, the Australian show competitions and the SA Awards in South Africa. “Occasionally, medal wins at a local competition can have wider influence,” says Michael Cox, director of Wines of Chile. “A big win at an Australian show can affect sales substantially, and make or break a wine’s reputation,” Cox adds, though Poh Tiong believes the idea of Australian judges awarding medals to Australian wine to be “almost inbred.”

Having organised The Wine Review Wine Challenge since 1991 – a successful wine competition born of Singapore-based wine magazine The Wine Review, Poh Tiong decided to discontinue it last year and launch an online wine competition geared around matching wines with Asian food – the Perfect Pairing Awards. “We were part of the wine awards mix, but there were so many like us, so I decided to do something completely different and focus on food pairings. It was a cold-blooded business decision, but a differentiation worth making,” says Poh Tiong. The competition pits wines against three popular dishes from three key Asian cities – this year Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing took part. “It seemed a logical path. There’s a lot of focus on pairing wines with Asian cuisine and I think it answers the needs of the consumer,” says Poh Tiong.

Producers are becoming more cynical about wine competitions, and discerning about which ones they enter. “Wineries are getting a bit tired of supporting someone else’s bank balance,” says Gary Jordan of South African producer Jordan Wine Estate. “With everyone trading off each other, you have to ask yourself, ‘what am I getting in return?’” If properly publicised, a medal win can lead to a surge in sales. “We see fantastic sales uplifts on award winners. The increase depends on the base sales, but you can double, triple, or even quadruple sales quite easily with a well marketed win,” says Sainsbury’s wine buyer Julian Dyer, adding, “The quality of our own-label wines is unparallel, but our customers don’t necessarily know this, so an award win is a great way of proving their worth.” But recently, both winemakers and retailers have noticed that big wins don’t have the impact they used to. “You can’t win a medal and expect your wine to walk off the shelf. It’s a lot harder work now; you really have to let your customers know about it,” says Jordan. Simon Doyle of Concha y Toro agrees: “Ten years ago, awards wins had a much more immediate impact. Now it’s more steady as you go, with a gradual increase in sales rather than a sudden surge.

In a bid to shout about its numerous award wins, Concha y Toro has released a print advert featuring a wine rack filled with CyT wines, each of them labelled with their medal win alongside the tag line: ‘Which award-winning wine is your favourite?’ “Awards are one more tool in the promotional tool box,” says Alison Dillon of Wines From Spain. “We’re fortunate in the UK to have some of the top international competitions on our doorstep, but it remains to be seen whether this emphasis will shift as Asia starts to flex its wine buying muscles,” Dillon adds. In terms of catching the consumer’s eye in the aisle, opinion is divided as to whether or not to use medal stickers. “I try not to put stickers on my bottles, it’s not our style – they end up looking like Christmas trees,” says Jordan. Andrew Maidment of Wines of Argentina thinks consumers don’t understand the differences between the competitions, let alone the medals: “I read an article that said consumers consider a ‘commended ‘ award better than a bronze medal, because bronze is seen as coming third and commended means experts have given it the thumbs up.”

Stickers aside, in which markets does a big win matter most? Outside the UK, the US, Canada and Asia take awards results the most seriously, especially from the big three (DWWA, IWSC and IWC). A points-driven culture, American consumers are more open-minded about wine recommendations. “Awards results are very important in the US market. Consumers have grown up with Robert Parker and The Wine Spectator scoring wines out of 100, so a big win has an immediate impact over there,” says Concha y Toro’s Doyle. With a lack of concrete knowledge about wine, coupled with a keenness to learn, awards results also have a big impact on Asian consumers’ buying habits. “The average Asian consumer hasn’t even heard of Decanter, but if they were in a supermarket faced with four similar wines, they would gravitate towards the one with the medal,” says Poh Tiong. Doyle agrees: “Wine knowledge in Asia is at a much less mature level than in Europe, so consumers are still looking for pointers when choosing wine, and an award win carries weight. Chinese retailers are also more open-minded about marketing award wins,” he says.

Many wineries seeking representation abroad enter international competitions in the hope that a gold medal might land them a UK listing. “A big award win at an international competition could make us taste that winery’s wines if we didn’t know them, and see if they suited our style,” says M&S’s Ahearne. Maria José Sevilla, director of Wines From Spain, believes the New Wave Spanish Wine Awards serve as a barometer for UK wine trends. “We’ve seen positive effects from the awards in terms of a foot on the export market for some and new listings in the on– and off-trade for others,” says Sevilla. Though not everyone is in favour of wine competitions. Chief wine critic of The New York Times Eric Asimov can’t see the point of them: “I don’t pay attention to wine competitions and put no stock in the results. The idea that tasting several hundred wines in a day is going to yield credible and meaningful results is a myth that I’d rather not do anything to uphold. It doesn’t present consumers with the best wines in the world, only the best of what were available. Robert Parker and The Wine Spectator still carry more weight in the US with their ratings than the results of any of the big wine competitions," says Asimov.

Love them or loathe them, wine competitions are here to stay, serving both as a benchmark for producers to see how their wines match up against their contemporaries’, and a valuable quality signpost for novice wines buyers. For Andrew Maidment of Wines of Argentina, it all boils down to the need for a point of difference. “There’s a desperate desire among producers to make their product stand out. The market is so fiercely competitive, if your wine isn’t instantly recognisable as unique, then you’re a nobody.”

Article originally published in The Drinks Business magazine.

Decanter World Wine Awards dinner

I'm a bit late in getting this up, but last Wednesday was our Decanter World Wine Awards dinner. I can't quite believe this is the fourth dinner I've attended - how the years have flown.

The first was at the V&A, when I was a wine newby, having worked at Decanter a mere month. I sat next to Michael Schuster and declared I preferred the Riesling to the Chardonnay we were drinking. The next day a copy of his wine tasting book landed on my desk along with a note that read: 'anyone who prefers Riesling to Chardonnay has a palate with great potential'.

We migrated to the The Hempel hotel the year after, then settled on the epically beautiful Royal Opera House, where we've been for the past two years. This year we were treated to wonderful weather - it was one of those glorious late summer evenings where the sun stayed out late, warming our shoulders while we sipped Charles Heidsieck 2000 on the terrace. I say we, but I had to steal sips from my glass, in between ushering winning winemakers to be interviewed for our shiny new decanter.com site, to ferreting out their trophy Riedel decanters.

After the madness of the reception I had a chance to unwind and savour a selection of the wines on show, my standouts being the Schloss Johannisberg, Riesling Erstes Gewächs, Rheingau 2008 and Bodegas Baigorri de Garage Rioja 2005. I was sat next to Alex Hunt, who told me of his seven year quest to become an MW - the answer to which would be revealed on Friday (he did). We then got talking about the science of sight, the merits of Comte, and whether photography could be considered an art form, which, of course, it can.

Food was an exciting affair - we started with peat-smoked salmon and watercress creme fraiche and moved on to leg of lamb roasted pink with a Guwurztraminer velouté. Both were exquisitely cooked, especially considering the ROH kitchens had to churn out 400 of each dish. After the main course the 28 International Trophies were announced. There were two big surprise wins: the Red Rhône Varietal over £10 trophy went to Israeli winery Carmel, for its Kayoumi Single Vineyard Shiraz 2008, beating the likes of Rhône big guns Chapoutier and Guigal. The winery, based in Upper Galilee, celebrated its 120th harvest this year.

Another shocker, which raised the biggest cheer of the night, was when East Sussex winery Ridge View trumped some of the top Champagne houses to scoop the Sparkling over £10 trophy for its Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2006. Unfortunately I was in the loo at the time, but the cheers of delight at the fact that the Brits had trumped the French at their own game snaked all the way down the corridor.

I'd spoken with Mardi from the winery a few weeks prior, in order to get their wine dog Talby on our back page, and had to force myself not to mention the International Trophy. One word from me and the whole surprise would have been ruined. Mardi rang the office the day after the awards – she'd been bombarded with media interview requests all morning, but seemed as happy about Talby making it as a 'top dog' as she did about the International Trophy.

Before pudding I quickly caught up with Jeremy Rockett from Gonzales Byass, who was sporting a fetching Tio Pepe waistcoat, Joe Gilmour from Roberson, who was buzzing after his Kensington shop was deservedly crowned the best small independent merchant in our retailer awards, and the lovely Lo Franco brothers from Fattoria La Vialla in Tuscany (who I'm pictured with). They invited me out to their estate to do the oliver harvest in October - I'm seriously tempted.

Sitting back down to get stuck into my sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce, Barry Dick pulls up a chair beside me. We get chatting and I quickly notice he's taking no interest in his pud - watching the six pack I imagine. I feel rather self conscious about wolfing down mine, but it's so delicious I can't resist. He tells me he bought his tux 15 years ago and that it still fits. I glance down at his tight fitting trousers, his toned thigh muscles clearly visible from beneath the fabric, and get a Semillons flashback!

English wine tasting

We all know about the merits of English sparkling wine – Ridgeview Estate's Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2006 recently won the UK Sparkling Over £10 Regional Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards, making it a contender for the Sparkling Over £10 International Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards ceremony dinner on 1 September, where it will be competing on a level playing field with heavyweight vintage Champagnes.

Sparkling wines aside, when my flatmate Jimmy Smith, who runs the West London Wine School in Fulham, mentioned he was hosting a Best of British wine tasting, I was the first to sign up, excited about trying the still wines on offer.

A modest and manageable eight wines were on show – four whites, one red and three sparklers. We seem to be experiencing something of a wine boom in England – planting is at an all time high. The 2009 figures show 1,215 hectares under vine, with Champagne grapes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay being the most widely planted, followed by trendy grape Bacchus, named, of course, after the Roman god of wine.

A whopping 75% of England's vineyards are in the south, clustered around Sussex, Surrey and Kent. Although winemaking in England dates back to AD43, when the Romans brought vines to Britain, it's only over the past 20 years that we've started to be taken seriously as a quality wine producing country. And things are on the up, with both foreign and local investment, a surge of skilled winemakers coming up through the ranks, and the effects of Global Warming, England is emerging as a serious player in the wine world.

There are currently 381 vineyards in England, stretching as far north as Yorkshire, and 116 wineries producing around 2.2m bottles a year, and a record 3.2m in 2009. Jimmy's tasting began with Stanlake Park Regatta White 2007, a blend of Ortega (named after the Spanish liberal philosopher José Ortega), Madeleine Angevine and Schonburger. The stunning, sprawling Stanlake Park manor house wouldn't look out of place on the Left Bank. The wine however, failed to impress. It had some attractive green fruit and crisp acidity, but was too light bodied to get me excited.

On to wine 2; Denbies Flint Valley NV from the Surrey-based winery boasting the biggest single vineyard in the UK. I have to admit to being both proud and nostalgic about tasting this wine. I was born ten minutes from the vineyard in Godstone a year before it was founded in 1984. There is something wonderful about trying a wine from where you were born. I felt the same pride (albeit disproportional) as natives of Bordeaux and Champagne do about their wines. A blend of Reichensteiner, Seyval Blanc and Chardonnay, it had a slightly oily texture, with a flinty, mineral core and sharp green apple and citrus notes.

Two Chapel Down wines were on show – Bacchus 2009 and Brut Sparkling NV. With 19 vineyards scattered across Kent, Chapel Down has won a slew of awards over the past few years. Along with Ortega, Bacchus is making a name for itself as an exciting variety to watch. The pronounced nose showed passionfruit, nettle and lime, while the sharp palate was filled with puckering lime and gooseberry - we just might have found England's answer to Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

The only red of the night, Bolney Estate Dark Harvest 2008, came from Bookers in Sussex. Made from the early ripening Rondo grape, with a small amount of inky Dornfelder thrown in, it was liquid proof of how far we've got to go with our reds. It tasted like a church – dusty and musty, but there were faint, pleasurable hints of Pinot Noir through its smoke, spice and soft red fruit.

We ended with a trio of sparklers – Chapel Down (as previously mentioned), Somborne Valley Rosé 2006 and, for the grand finale, Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2005. Sharing Champagne's clement climate and limestone and chalk soils, England has the perfect terroir for sparkling wine – production is set to double in 2010, from 3m to 7m bottles a year. The Somborne had an odd, almost cheesy nose, but a wonderfully elegant palate of apples, strawberries and raspberries, with a creamy, lemony mousse. But the Nyetimber 2005 stood out like a diamond in the dirt. A rich golden hue, if I were to get this in a blind tasting, it would be almost impossible not to place it in Champagne. The nose sang of rich autolytic notes - biscuit, toasted almonds and brioche. The palate was rich and creamy, like a plate of hot buttered croissants.

The tasting has given me a lot to think about. Not only are we now making sparkling wines that can hold their own against the best vintage Champagnes, we seem to have found our own homegrown version of super seller Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in Bacchus, and a rising star in Ortega. There is so much to celebrate in English wine right now - the future's bright.

Video: Tasting of Opi aka Rodolfo Sadler Malbec

Wine and the City and Jimmy Smith from the West London Wine School taste Opi aka Rodolfo Sadler Malbec, Mendoza, 2008, winner of the Red Single Varietal under £10 International Trophy at the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards.

Selfridges Wonder Bar: pleasure by the measure

Tonight was an exciting night for the team. It was the launch of our brief but brilliant two week tenure at the Wonder Bar in Selfridges. For the next 14 days, 50 Decanter World Wine Awards trophy winners will have their fine curves wedged tightly into an Enomatic machine in order to be devoured and enjoyed by the public.

To put it into perspective, 10,285 wines entered the competition this year and only 91 came away with a trophy. These 50 bad boys make up the top 1% of the wines tasted by our panel, so whatever you end up trying, it's pretty likely to be good.

On my way to the tasting I caught sight of a flashing yellow sign that formed part of one of the window displays. Framed with Hollywood-style light bulbs, it took me a while to realize it was a huge poster advertising our collaboration with the Wonder Bar. There, in the window of Selfridges, one of the biggest department stores in London, if not the world, was Decanter's name in lights, literally. It was a weird and wonderful moment. I felt excited and proud of our fifteen minutes of fame, and the fact that we've stepped outside the insular bubble the wine world is guilty of cocooning itself in.

So, how did the wines fare? I'm a big fan of the Enomatic. It's like a wine pick 'n' mix full of liquid pleasure by the measure. The beauty of it is that it drags people out of their comfort zones and forces them to try something new. Currency comes in the form card that can be topped up in multiples of ten. So £10 will get you 10 samples of wine under £10 or 5 samples of wine over £10. Once you've juiced your card the fun begins. You get that kid in a sweet shop feeling where you genuinely don't know where to begin.

I hit the wine jukebox with brio, starting with a trio of whites, moving on to an octet of reds and ending with a quartet of sweet and fortifieds. Here are my top ten...

Rustenberg, Chardonnay, Stellenbosch 2007

Light and fresh on the nose, with aromas of crunchy green apple, citrus and honeysuckle. Creamy and complex on the palate with a lovely rounded mouthfeel and appealing malolactic notes. The wine has lovely balance and lingering length.

Maison Albert Bichot, Domaine du Pavillon, Mersault Premier Cru Les Charmes 2007

A classic nose displaying wonderful minerality. We're in Burgundy heartland. Elegant and refined on the palate with buttery malolactic notes pairing with refreshing citrus and green apple. A lovely, rich, creamy mouthfeel balanced by a good acidity that cuts through it. The delicious mineral notes persist. A truly charming wine.

Weingut Johann Donabaum, Riesling Smaragd Setzberg, Wachau, 2007

A lively nose of citrus and stone fruits including lemon, lime, peach and apricot that mix with blossom and floral notes. Lots of tropical fruit on the palate, from passion fruit to lychee. The wine has a lovely acidity and underlying mineral notes. It's zippy, young and full of the joys of spring (even when opened in Autumn).

CVNE, Pagos de Viña Real, Rioja, 2002

An attractive ruby colour with a lovely savoury meaty animal nose, along with baked cherries, cedarwood and leather. A very traditional Rioja. Smooth and silky on the palate, the wine has excellent structure and persistent length. Pass me the lamb chuletitas.

Jacob's Creek, Johann Shiraz Cabernet, 2001

A lovely nose of black bramble fruit - black currants, black berries, black cherries, mint and eucalypt. Smooth on the palate, it retains its elegance despite a voluptuous full body and bold, grippy tannins weaved with wonderful spicy peppery notes.

Marchesi di Gresy, Martinenga, Barbaresco, 2005

A typically Italian nose of lively bright ripe red fruit - strawberries and bitter cherries. Vibrant and smooth on the palate with appealing licorice and smoky notes wrapped around firm grippy tannins. Balsamic notes on the finish.

Valdivieso, Single Vineyard Merlot, Curicó Valley, 2007

Slightly jammy rich ripe red fruit and vanilla sweentess on the nose mixing with black cherry, black currant, smoke and tar. A heady wine. Rich, smooth and well rounded in the mouth with lovely spicy notes coming though and the vanilla sweetness persisting in the length. I wish I could drink the whole bottle.

Bodegas Fernando de Castilla, Antique Amontillado

Elegant nutty nose of roasted almonds and hazelnuts that mix with burnt caramel and citrus notes of lemon and orange peel. Bone dry on the palate with attractive oxidized aromas, refreshing acidity and a lingering hazelnut finish.

Emilio Lustau, Sweet Oloroso, Añada 1990

Tawny colour with a sweet nose of burnt toffee, caramel, raisins and almonds. Heady and rich on the palate with an unctuous mouthfeel and impressive acidity that lifts the sweetness through to the deliciously long nutty finish.

Henriques & Henriques, 15 Year Old Bual Madeira

I've just come back from Madeira so was very excited to try this. It didn't disappoint. A heady nose of dried fruits, raisins, sultanas, figs, prunes and burnt toffee. Rich, complex, delicious and mouthfilling, with hazelnuts, almonds, vanilla and burnt sugar on the palate. Scrumptious.