Wine competition: From between-juries consistency to sensory perception of consumers

Wine is a complex product offering to consumer a multitude of choices. Considering this diversity, wine competitions provide a way of helping consumers in their choices. However, the dramatic increase of wine contests in the last fifteen years has led to an increase in the number of award-winning wines. Is a medal really a guarantee of quality or having a medal is just a matter of chance? Two studies were therefore conducted during 3 years in a French wine competition. The first study assessed the impact of the order in which the wine was assessed, and the variability between juries' judgements and therefore the chances of winning an award. For this purpose, the same wine was placed on all jury tables at the first and penultimate positions of the tasting series. Wines were rated, using the OIV-UIOE score sheet. Score differences were analyzed between tasting juries. The second study sought confirmation by a consumer panel of the medals awarded during the competition. A hedonic test of both award-winning and non-awarded wines was organised, in order to verify whether the awarded wines were indeed preferred by consumers.