Judges at the World of Wine Festival vs. us at Battle of the Bones (first of two parts)

The stereotypic image of a wine judge comes to mind quickly: Snooty. Sour faced. Oh, and that dreadful pompous patter. It’s no wonder that cartoonists like Adey Bryant poke fun of wine judges, putting words in their mouths such as: “Hmm, this cheeky little red just stamped on my toes, poked me in the eye, kicked me in the butt and said ‘get a life, you sad git.’”

But who exactly are these so-called experts? Why should their perception of a wine be worth more than our own? After all, the sense of smell is primal. According to scientists who study us, it has evolved to help us locate food, run away from stinky danger and (sorry, dear prudes) stimulate sexual behavior.

The problem with us, however, says Jim LaMar of www.winepros.org, is scent messages pass through the emotional center of our brain before our conscious thoughts can identify them. Expectation makes accurate recall of smells somewhat sketchy. We can be so easily influenced by packaging (read label studies here) or memories that we really don’t know what we’re tasting. “Reaction to certain smells may be instinctive,” he says. “Identification of those smells requires a certain amount of experience and training.”

So, in our exploration of Us vs. Them, we’ll start with wine pros’ well-toned palates that help them precisely identify and remember taste, smell and flavor, time after time after time. And then – still sober – rank the wines using exacting terminology that others can understand.

They deserve our respect because many have endured endless hours of classwork offered by the esteemed Institute of Masters of Wine and have earned a braggable MW title.

Case in point: The judges for the upcoming World of Wines Festival. Four highly credentialed judges have already been confirmed to fly into Medford, stick their noses into glasses of wine made from Southern Oregon grapes, sniff enough of the stuff to reach deep-seated nasal receptors, slosh sips around in their mouths, slurp in air to mix with the wine, swallow, settle on their decrees, then leave to taste thousands of more types of wine before we mere mortals attempt the same taste test of 40 wineries at the festival in Gold Hill on August 28.

These seasoned wine tasters look for distinct varietal character, that is the unique aroma, flavor, color and body of a grape variety that goes into wine. It takes experience to identify these characteristics. People with practiced palates can do it blindfolded.

At last year’s festival, South Stage Cellars’ 2008 Early Muscat and Misty Oaks Vineyard’s 2007 Jones Road Cabernet Franc were named Best in Show.

Red wine judge Elaine Marshall, a former restaurant sommelier and one of the first to achieve the designation an Advanced Certified Wine Professional of the Culinary Institute of America, voted for the Cab Franc. “What I liked about it is it walked like a Cab Franc, it smelled like a Cab Franc but the alcohol wasn’t too high,” she says. “It was a spot-on representation of what I was looking for in that distinct style of a Cab Franc.”

What will this year’s judges say? You can read it here once they’ve made their decisions.

The 2010 World of Wine Festival Judges are:

• Joel Butler, MW, president of North America’s Institute of Masters of Wine and an instructor for the Wine and Spirits Education Trust courses at COPIA in Napa Valley and Seattle
• Patrick Farrell, MW, vice president of the Institute of Masters of Wine North America and a partner in the Bev Wizard “Wine Smoother”
• Bob Paulinski, MW, wine buyer for the Winn-Dixie chain of stores
• Patrick Comiskey, senior editor for Wine and Spirits magazine

Taking them on requires practice on our part. Here’s an opportunity this weekend. The Battle of the Bones in Central Point, in which people judge the barbecue, brew and wine.

READ THE SECOND PART of the People at Battle of the Bones vs Wine judges here.

For more info: World of Wine Festival takes place Saturday, August 28 from 5 p.m to 9 p.m. at Del Rio Vineyards, 52 North River Road, Gold Hill, Oregon 97525-6784, (541) 855-2062. Tickets are $75 and available at www.worldofwinefestival.com, Del Rio Vineyards, RoxyAnn Winery, Elegance Fine Wines, Schmidt Family Vineyards and Pacific Wine Club.