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WINE COMPETITIONS

the most important thing remains the qua- Or will competitions be replaced by indivi-
lity of the producer, the cellarmaster, and, dual ratings from „new Parkers“ due to limi-
in competitions, the judges. And the same ted travel?
applies here: nothing works without passion There won‘t be a new Parker or Johnson any-
and love for wine. time soon. That involves much more than sim-
ply training as a wine specialist. These people
Will juries be served by robots (that‘s not shouldn‘t be taken as examples. There are quite
a joke - I‘ve seen it in Beijing); will they be in a few others here who give objective ratings as
separate rooms? well. But there are also many others who use the
So, I can only speak for us at Berliner Wine seal to earn money quickly.
Trophy: technical progress also has its limits For me, ratings from individual people, with
somewhere. It always makes me happy to be the exception of a few particular individuals,
poured a glass of wine by a smiling service are no substitute for objective competitions. If
employee, rather than having a machine stan- you know the wine‘s producer, the country, the
ding in front of me. price, the distribution, in short, the parameters
Imagine you‘re sitting at a table with 6 which influence an objective decision, how
judges with a machine standing in the mi- could an objective rating be possible? For exam-
ddle and a green light flashing whenever ple, the price of a wine influences the rating very
a new wine arrives. You then place your quickly, and even a well-known name can pro-
glass underneath and the wine runs throu- duce a bad wine. In a proper competition with

gh a hose into your glass, with a gong sound a blind tasting, such as the Berliner Wine Trophy,
announcing that a new wine is ready after 3 the judges only know the vintage and the grape
minutes. The thought alone gives me goo- variety to classify the wine during the tasting.
sebumps. Wine is a product that deserves to
be evaluated with care. And I owe it to the On the German market - are medal stic-
producer to rate their product with the de- kers valued as a POS tool? Or bottle neck
gree of respect that their product deserves. . speakers and shelf tags?
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