By John Bischoff
For those who are considering submitting wines for judging this year, here are some comments and feedback from someone who was at the 2013 Winemagazine Amateur Competition about the wines submitted. “In general, the level of quality of wines has improved greatly from previous years, and that’s a reassuring sign. On the flip side, we still see many entries that have flaws or faults, or are simply not ready. Here are my thoughts based on the wines I have tasted and comments from fellow judges.
My main comment about the wines submitted is that the vast majority are simply too young, and so they are not showing at their best. Aromas are still “closed in” and flavors have not had a chance to evolve and sprout. Many tasted like they were only recently fermented or bottled. Wine needs time to work its magic and grow to its full potential. I know that we winemakers are a keen bunch — we want to get that wine bottled ASAP and quickly share it with friends and family. But we need to be patient. The trick is to make more wine than you’ll be drinking so that you can age some of it. It’s amazing what even 6 months of aging can do for a wine — reds will benefit from an extra year or 18 months. But it all depends on desired style and wine at hand.
I also encountered many wines that simply tasted diluted or lacking body or mouthfeel. Many had oodles of aromas but then fell short on the palate making the wine unbalanced. The problem might be from grapes from a rainy harvest or too much water added to concentrate with kit wines.
And oxidation was probably the #1 fault. Oxidation manifests itself in browning with aromas of cooked apples and nuts akin to Sherry wine. In more serious cases, oxidation had evolved to acetic acid and even ethyl acetate. This is the result of excessive exposure to air probably from defective equipment or over-processing, or from bacterial infection, such as Acetobacter.”