Yeah, but decided by who? A room full of wine snobs (no offence meant) may have very different taste preference that of the average Joe. I love to go wine tasting and find it amusing to hear the "experts" roll their eyes at "the new fruit bomb wines" but at the end of the day most people want a wine that just tastes good and doesn't require "an acquired taste".

"The best pinot noir" is just a nebulous as the best car, motorcycle, guitar player, singer... all depends on personal taste...

That and I have been wine tasting for twenty years, and every five to ten years the tastes of the industry changes, just look at how the taste of Chardonnay has changed in the last ten to twenty years.

Not really. A good wine is just that. It's pretty obvious to anybody that takes a swig. Like my F-I-L. He takes a hit & exclaims how good it is & he means it. Then he asks for Coke to mix with it . . .

But I have always found Decanter to be a solid guide. When I was buying futures, I always used their barrel tastings as a guide & they have proven 100% 'spot on'. Compare their vintages guides to Parker's . . .

Ian

Wine competitions are like beauty pageants for dogs. a) In the eye of the beholder; b) Only people that want to show their dogs enter. At least a dog show has a breed standard - there is no such thing in wine - other than eliminating those with flaws. One person's wonderful is another's undrinkable...

The most compelling, small production, hand-crafted wines never see a competition. Think about the kind of wine that stands out of 14,000 - will it be sublime, elegant? Will it be something that a scorched Judge's palate can remember? Just saying...

Whatever.
Can't bear having a Canadian wine rated the best, by a bunch of wine experts, via blind tasting test?
"sour grapes", as they say.

You miss my point entirely.

This has nothing to do with Canadian wine, and everything to do with winning a beauty contest. In my view of wine, a panel of "experts" may say this is the wine of the year, the vintage of the decade, et al - but if you don't like it, then it matters not at all.

To my point about a massive quantity of wine being judged (Gold Medals is the biggest marketing racket ever) how would a wine that goes with food stand out? It can't. And wine goes with food, it's not a cocktail.

I'll repeat what I posted earlier, "Love what you drink, drink what you love." Don't fall victim to medals, points, awards - be your own wine critic.

Dead on, Don. I'm with you on this one.

I've had several Canadian varietals and enjoyed them immensely, but they're just not that prevalent out side of the "sticky" category.......then they're certainly #1.

I don't appreciate a $65 bottle of wine because I like value. A $10 bottle of red does it for me. Yes Trader Joes and Costco's $5-10 down in Cal. and Arizona is equivalent to our $12-15 bottle in Canada.

I already look forward to coming south for cheaper red wine.:)

There are few bad wines that are $10 anymore....

Australian wine kicks Canadian wine's arsh! :p ;)

Australia makes so much wine that they don't bother bottling the stuff unless it's pretty darn good. Most of the big name labels can be trusted as they don't want to risk their name by hawking rubbish.

I'd like to try Canadian Pinots as the cold nights, snow, then hot dry summer should work.