Media Center
The Columbus Food & Wine Affair – A Story to Share
Professionals and Enthusiasts come together to weigh in on Grand Tasting wines
"...The event showcases quality...my goal is to enhance the event by encouraging wineries to present the best wines they have available. The competition offers wineries the opportunity to receive coveted bronze, silver, gold, and 'best value' medals that will attract the attention of local consumers, retailers, and restaurateurs. This is a great community event, supporting local community charitable organizations, and a wine competition that is judged by a fantastic panel of community participant wine writers, retailers, restaurateurs, distributors, winery representatives, and community wine enthusiasts!"
-- Rob Somers, District Manager, Ohio/Treasury Wine Estates and Wine Competition Chair
The Columbus Food & Wine Affair Wine Competition--one of the largest competitions of its kind in the Midwest--takes the art of judging seriously. Judging is based on a modified version of the 20-point system developed in the 1950s by Maynard Amerine, a professor in viticulture at the University of California Davis. The scoring structure puts in place a system to objectively analyze the wines.
According to Somers, the wines must be judged on their own merits—not in comparison to the other wines. Not an easy thing to do. That being the case, each year, selected judges attend special training in order to be adequately educated in the 20-point judging process. Somers says that with objectivity being key, education is a must.
Armed with knowledge, expertise and experience, the panel of more than 40 professional judges took part in the Columbus Food & Wine Affair Wine Competition on Saturday, August 20, 2011 at the Columbus Fish Market on Olentangy River Road.
The panel of more than 40 individuals included a unique balance of wine experts and enthusiasts from the community. Taking part were local retailers, restaurateurs, wine suppliers, distributor personnel, wine writers and wine enthusiasts from the community.
All wines that will be poured at the 2011 Grand Tasting were entered into the competition. Those awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medallions will be announced at the Grand Tasting to be held Friday, September 23 at Franklin Park Conservatory.
The Wine Enthusiast Competition gave 30 individuals who would call themselves “novices” the opportunity to learn the art of judging. They took part in this exclusive education and tasting opportunity as they learned the “do’s and don’ts” of wine judging and were educated on the same system used by the professional judging panel.
Somers conducted the enthusiast education session, guiding the would-be judges through the intricacies of tasting and judging fine wines. Unlike the professional judges who judge on average 100 or more wines during the competition, the enthusiasts judge four flights of six wines each consisting of a total of 24 different wines.
Frances Wright returned for her second year in the Wine Enthusiast Competition. “It’s such a great experience,” she shares. “I love trying different wines, but attending this competition gives me the chance to truly focus and concentrate on what I should be looking for. I’ve learned so much.”
Fellow enthusiast Ed Rogers concurs. “I’ve learned that for the most part specific wines are very consistent. At the same time, there are subtle differences.”
Somers notes that the Wine Enthusiast Competition has been met with just that—enthusiasm. “These are people who appreciate the nuances of different wines and want to learn more. This competition is perfect for them. The response is so terrific, I am sure we will host this again next year.”
The Columbus Food & Wine Affair Executive and Steering Committees wish to thank all of our professional and enthusiast judges for their participation!
To view photos of this year’s professional Wine Competition and the Wine Enthusiast Competition, please go to the Photo Gallery.
For more information about the Columbus Food & Wine Affair events – the Grand Tasting and Columbus Food & Wine Enthusiast Competition or our partners, participating wineries and restaurants as well as selected charities, please contact Kim Tyndall, Columbus Food & Wine Affair Media Relations, ktyndall@insight.rr.com or 614-554-1587.
The Columbus Food & Wine Affair would like to thank our media partners:
WBNS -10TV The Columbus Dispatch
Madison & Fifth Vital Film Works
99.7 The Blitz Classic Hits 103.9 WMNI AM 920
Bartha Audio Visual FastSigns Westerville
FEED Social Media