Faster, higher, fruitier': why we need the Wine Olympics

Like most things in life, the Olympics have got me thinking about wine – specifically, whether the medal-winning wines we see on the shelves of supermarkets and wine shops are really deserving of those accolades.

- ROSAMUND HALL

Unlike the scarcity of Olympic medals, they seem to be abundant.

Wine is the most appallingly marketed product, with both cheap and expensive bottles looking very similar – give or take the weight of the bottle, and maybe the quality of paper used on the label. As such, buying wine can feel like a bit of a lottery. There’s so much choice on a shelf where everything looks the same. So perhaps, seeing a bottle adorned with a winner’s medal may make you more inclined to buy it – but does it mean it’s any good?

There are hundreds of wine competitions spanning the globe – from small, regional association competitions to large-scale internationally renowned awards. But how are they organised? If you were an elite athlete, you would expect judges at regional, national, international or Olympic events to follow the same process of judging. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about wine competitions, whose methodology can vary widely.