Colin – Page 110 – Colin Harkness on Wine

IWSC 2015

Day 3 of the Spanish Wine Panel judging at the International Wine & Spirits Competition near Guildford, UK.

We’ll, it’s called the International Wine and Spirits Competition because we receive wines from all over the world. There is judging in the Northern Hemisphere, where I am now; and there is judging in the Southern Hemisphere – where I’d like to be one day!

Plus there is also the IWSC in Hong Kong – again, I’d love to have a crack at that, too!

However, it’s not just the wines that are international – so are the Judges!

During the three days I’ve been here this week my fellow judges have come from several different countries: South Africa; Hong Kong; Germany; Italy; USA/Canada; Great Britain and probably more – well, me from Spain, for example!

It means that we are able to gain a real understanding of perspectives across the planet, and it makes the judging that much more accurate, when you consider that IWSC medals are proudly displayed on winning wines made and sold all over the Globe. It’s an honour to be a part of it!

Today was a good day, really good. The standard was high, in some cases very high. Plus there were, yet again, a number of Spanish Wine producing areas represented that often are in the shadow of the fame of some of the better known wine zones. And what a delight to see so many of the wines hailing from these lesser known areas achieving the same medal level as will wines from the ‘sexy’ areas in the coming week!

It’s further proof that Spain continues to be in the vanguard of dynamic, innovative quality wine-making!

I’m not allowed, yet, to reveal anything specific about the wines we tasted today. But I can say that the standard was high and that my fellow judges, and that includes a number of Masters of Wine (there are only 301 MWs on the planet!), and I thoroughly enjoyed the wines and the experience!

Last day for me tomorrow, but there are another three days of Spanish Wines in the coming week. Wish I could be there!

More tomorrow.

IWSC 2015 Blog

Day 2 Judging at the International Wine & Spirits Competition 2014.

I was delighted today to see that there were so many Vino de la Tierra (VdlT) wines entered in this year’s competition.

No longer the wannabe DOs of yesteryear these areas of Spanish Wine Production now have nothing to prove!

If you look in any Spanish Wine books of perhaps 15 years ago, certainly 20 yrs ago – you’ll see that VdlT was considered to be a class under the esteemed Denominaciónes de Origen. Quite good, but not quite good enough to make it to the top echelon!

In the pioneering intervening years this has all changed. There are some bodegas in recognised DOs, and indeed some DOs, who stubbornly still believe that only Denominaciónes de Origen make the real top wines of Spain they would do well to look at the French wine model of some years ago.

This head-in-the-sand mentality lost the French considerable market-share when New World wines started infiltrating Europe! The Spanish DOs had better not make the same mistake.

It is true, of course, that there are many excellent DO wines in Spain – but there is also poor quality, sometimes all the way down to dross! Wines which are legally correct in portraying the epithet ‘DO etc’ on their labels, as they adhere to all the rules (probably!), but which are really not at all representative of the quality that is required.

Consumers are slowly catching on, led, it has to be said, by the extranjeros, the foreigners living in Spain, like the British, Germans, Scandinavians etc who are not bound by machismo ethics or loyalty – we just want to drink good quality wines!

Often the extranjeros are also more clued up re wine appreciation as well, as there are many column inches (centimeters?), radio and TV programmes that include a wine element in their home countries.

Vino de la Tierra wines are filling that gap and I’m pleased to see that some of these wines will be winning highly prized IWSC medals in this year’s competition, which will ignite sales and spur on others in VdlT areas to continue to improve their wine-making skills and therefore the finished product, and to enter next year’s competition.

And tomorrow at the IWSC? Will the DOs fight back? Let’s see!

Muy bien!

IWSC 2015

Day 1 of an on-going, almost live(!), blog about the INTERNATIONAL WINE & SPIRITS COMPETITION’S judging of Spanish Wines, April 2015.

The International Wine & Spirits Competition is the oldest international wine competition in the World. It’s also one of the three most prestigious. So, it’s an honour to be a part of the judging panel.

With me today were two Masters of Wine, one South African Cape Wine Master and two highly qualified Wine Tasters and Educators from Hong Kong! As devout Methodists I guess my parents would have been somewhat ambivalent about my being in such august company!

I can’t reveal any scores awarded or any comments made as we’ve all complied with the rule of secrecy and anyway, none of us knows which wines we tasted. All wines are asting served in a pre-poured, numbered tasting glass with the only information being their rough area of production and the predominate grape varieties used.

It’s serious stuff, as medals awarded in this competition sell wines, worldwide, so there is a duty of care to which all judges subscribe.

However, I can tell you that I was pleased with the standard and variety of wines tasted today. I was pleased also to see that each year wine producing areas previously shy of entering the IWSC are now prepared to do so. This can also mean that grape varieties rarely tasted and often not seen in the general market place can feel the warmth of the spotlight for once.

And of course the medal winners in this group will ensure that not only their wines will become well known but also the varieties with which they are made!

I was also delighted to share some quality wine time with other professionals. We all learn from each other and whilst, professionally serious of course, there is also a great sense of enjoyment and fun. We all share a common passion and we all have stories to tell.

So – talking in judicial terms, my verdict on this, the first day, was that it was both successful and hugely enjoyable. Bring on Day two!

IWSC – Judging Spanish Wines!

On Monday I’m off for my annual trip to the UK to join the IWSC (International Wine & Spirits Competition) Spanish Panel judging wines from Spain.

There’s always an excellent entry from Spain and last year there were 6 Outstanding Golds awarded, as well as a plethora of Golds, Silvers and Bronzes!

It’s a tough life tasting all those wonderful wines – but . . . .