Wine judges are rather unsteady, study finds

Only 10% in a four-year study of California State Fair judging were able to consistently give the same rating, or something close, to the same wine sampled multiple times in a large blind tasting.

By Jerry Hirsch
LA Times
January 28, 2009

Judges at the California State Fair wine competition scored poorly at giving the same wine an identical rating when they tasted it multiple times in a blind tasting.

That was the conclusion of a four-year study of judging decisions at the California State Fair Wine Competition by retired Humboldt State professor Robert Hodgson.

"Consumers should have a healthy skepticism about the medals awarded to wines from the various competitions," he said.

Hodgson's findings have prompted state fair officials to consider making changes in the way they operate future wine competitions.

In a study published Wednesday by the Journal of Wine Economics, Hodgson wrote that only 10% of the judges were able to consistently give the same rating, or something very close, to the identical wine sampled multiple times in a large blind tasting.

(More here.)