Dan Berger: Factoring in region when judging wines

Almost all wine comes from a place, and the larger that place is, the less distinctive the wine usually is.

When you buy a Cabernet Sauvignon that carries an appellation of "California," the grapes could have come from a blend of grapes grown in Glenn County, San Diego County and Fresno. Most lower-priced wines are blends like this.

By contrast, a Cabernet from Coonawarra in Australia or a Syrah from the Sonoma Coast is more likely to carry an aroma and a taste that wine experts call regional character. The former usually has a classic earthy sage and dried herb component, something you generally do not observe in a $7 wine that says it came from that huge region called "Southeastern Australia." A Sonoma Coast Syrah should be more peppery and rustic than one from "California."

This regional identity of wines comes into play most graphically at wine competitions, where judges often are asked to evaluate 30 or 40 wines from the same grape type. And the question often arises: should the regional character of the wines be considered when gold, silver, and bronze medals are being considered? Should judges be told where a wine comes from?

This was a major topic of conversation for the last three years at the Riverside International Wine Competition, which I have coordinated since 1982. In 2010, we tested how it would work if we judged an entire category with the panel knowing the region from which each wine came.

We used Petite Sirah for this test last year, and the results were better than we could have anticipated. So we expanded that system to two different Wednesday panels this year, then asked the eight judges if the rest of the competition should be judged the same way.

Five judges said no; only two said yes. One said he didn't care. The debate was spirited and those opposed finally said that with some wines, knowing the region from which a wine came could prejudice judges positively.

"I know who made this wine," said one Wednesday judge, pointing to a glass containing a Chardonel from Kansas. "There is only one great Chardonel from Kansas, and I know the winemaker," said the judge, adding, "So I'd rather not know the appellations."

Another was adamant: "If we try a Pinot Noir that's &‘different,' we could mark it down, but if we know it's from New Jersey, I could justify a higher medal because I know how hard it is to make a great Pinot in New Jersey."

Another issue in favor of knowing the region ahead of time is that insightful judges can look for a regional character when making a decision.

For instance, Russian River Pinot Noirs are usually distinctly different from those from other regions. And potential gold-medal winners "should smell like Russian River," said one judge. "A Russian River Pinot without a Russian River aroma is like a banana that tastes like an orange."

So the Riverside competition came up with a solution of sorts. The wines were all evaluated with no regions listed on the judges' score sheets, only the vintages and, for some white wines, the residual sugars.

But the medal recorders who sat at each of the judging tables had a complete list of appellations and were happy to reveal them to the judges after the judges had sampled each wine, but before the final medal was awarded.

It seemed to work better, and when all was evaluated the event awarded five sweepstakes awards to wines from five different regions.

The best white wine was a New York (Finger Lakes) Gewurztraminer; the best red was a Petite Sirah from California's Livermore Valley; the best ros?was a Pinot Noir Ros?from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, and the best dessert wine was an ice wine from Ontario, Canada.

For complete results, see the web site www.RIWC.net.

Wine of the Week: Nonvintage Vendange Semillon-Chardonnay, California ($9/1.5 liters) - Excellent wine need not be expensive, as proven by this wine that occasionally is seen at less than $7 for a 1.5-liter bottle. The aroma has some floral Chardonnay elements, but its main fruit is fig, fresh olive and a bit of fresh tea. Very stylish, nearly dry white wine that earned a silver medal against much more expensive wines at the Riverside wine competition.