Should we trust the professionals?

There was an article about wine tasting being junk science in the press recently. Professional tasters and awards panels are highly influential but one winemaker (who has won several gold awards) claims the whole process is a lottery. His research showed that professional tasters show little consistency or reliability in judging wines.

Part of the reason is wine is chemically complex so the same wine can taste quite different with variations in temperature, exposure to air etc. and likewise our taste buds do not respond in exactly the same way from one day to the next. Thought provoking stuff indeed and the article attracted 425 reader comments expressing their own opinions.

So who should we trust with our wine recommendations? These days the Internet allows us to rely on collective opinion - think TripAdvisor or the 5 star review system on Amazon. The problem is there are just too many wines for a wine comparison website to work.

So if the professionals aren't as reliable as we thought and there are no handy websites to tell us what to buy - we're left with our own judgement. Which is exactly what wine tasting is all about. Wine preferences are entirely personal and there is no right or wrong. We should not be afraid to  back our own judgement and the majority of the 425 comments expressed the same view. We are all capable of differentiating between tastes we like and dislike - so at a basic level we are all qualified wine tasters.

However, as a merchant it's my job to select wines that many customers will enjoy - so I can't just go with my own preference every time. I need to be sure that the wines on my list have genuine quality and are excellent examples of their grape variety and region. The best advice comes from the people who live where the wine is made. They have been drinking local wines for generations and can tell me objectively which winemakers stand out. That is why I go personally to wine regions to select my suppliers. It's a time consuming process, but I think it's the most reliable way.

Hedonist Wines are wines the locals drink >

Should we buy British?

Some say the problem facing the English wine industry is lack of awareness. But in conversations I have about wine I'm surprised how often the subject of English wine comes up. Is it any good? Why don't you sell it?

On a recent trip to Cornwall I visited a well-respected vineyard and sampled some of their wines. The rosé I tried was excellent, and the sparkling wines were also very good. But because of the recent bad summers they have not made any red wine for two years. The simple truth is that the UK is not warm enough to make decent red wine - even in a good year.

Back to the rosé and the fizz. These were genuinely enjoyable wines but as a merchant the issue I have is price. I currently sell a very similar rosé from a top appellation in the Loire, and it's less expensive. And the price issue really kicks in with the sparkling wines. We all know that good Champagne is expensive, but are we ready to spend similar amounts on English sparkling wine?
You don't have to look too hard to find good quality sparkling wines below Champagne prices. Regional French wines such as Cremant de Bourgogne are made using the traditional method and are literally half the price of the English wines I tasted. I'm all in favour of supporting English wines and small producers but value for money is a key ingredient - so for now my vote stays with Cremant de Bourgogne and Menetou-Salon rosé.

You can buy them online here: