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tition who wants to not only survive but grow found, judges have a much better chance to
and prosper. judge the wines before them fairly when they
The industry relies on wine competitions have access to the vintage, the varietal and
to break the tension of anticipation on behalf country and region of origin.
of the consumer – to determine the quality Originally guided by the OIV rules which
extant, so to speak. To be able to do this, the determine that judges do not discuss entries,
onus is on the organizers of wine competiti- Michelangelo has evolved into a New World
ons to select their judging panels with care, competition which encourages discussion
run their competitions with integrity and use among panel members before a final score is
watertight systems in order to ensure the best reached by consensus. Judges are told the vin-
odds for every entrant. tage, the level of maturation and wood satu-

THE EVOLUTION OF INTERNATIONAL
WINE COMPETITIONS
But wine judges are human, and the nature
of the beast determines that they are given li-
mited information to ensure impartiality and
objectivity during the judging process. Over ration, the cultivar and, where applicable, the
the past 25 years the Michelangelo Internati- percentages of various cultivars in blends.
onal Wine & Spirits Awards in South Africa has The first wine competition in South Africa
continuously adapted its systems, its classes, was held in 1824 by wine merchant John Colli-
and categories, to meet the demands of the son to determine the “best improved wines”.
industry. The competition has grown and evol- Thirteen different varieties were entered, and
ved as international entries became a fixed two silver cups awarded – one for a Madeira
percentage of annual entries and wine produ- and the other for hock wine (dry white wine.)
cers from around the globe started sending At the awards dinner held in Stellenbosch in
samples to South Africa for adjudication. that year, John Collisen encouraged the wine
Suddenly the organizers were confronted farmers to produce good wine. In his address
with a new set of challenges: presenting the he noted that the cost of exporting bad wine
judges with samples from various countries is the same as the cost of exporting good wine
and regions around the globe. This meant that and urged wine producers to make only the
cultivars needed to be grouped together and best wine possible.
subdivided in countries and regions of origin. Two hundred years later, we are still faced
As other international competitions have with the same challenges. ƅ

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