Playing hookey

Yesterday and today AB worked the backroom at a regional wine judging. There were wine judges from around the US there for this judging of regional wines from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and our buddies to the North: Western Canada. Yesterday was a hectic day and AB came home with a sore back and a tired brain. I mentioned in passing that if tomorrow was as bad that I could take the afternoon off from work and come help, I didn't have anything on my schedule.

I talked with V who also had worked the backroom at the judging the day before and she commented on how hectic it was as well. We agreed that I would go in for the afternoon with her and assist where I could. I had never done this type of thing before and so my goal was to simply be a go to person who could be ordered around, though I wouldn't be hauling cases around being that I am pregnant. I looked forward to the afternoon.

At 11:30am I skipped out of work and locked my door behind me. V picked me up at home and off we went. I had a little idea what to expect because V and her husband have been working these judgings for a few years now and we had heard about how they worked, as well as reeped some of the benefits of the judgings in the form of opened bottles that would otherwise go to waste. AB and I loved this as it gave us the opportunity to taste many wines we normally wouldn't in manners we normally don't. For a single varietal (grape such as sangiovese or chardonney) judging, having the opportunity to taste 10-12 wines of the same varietal at once is a very eye opening experience. Who knew 12 cabernet sauvignons would taste so incredibly different. Other things we tried were blind tastings where we tasted all the wines and then one of us would repour a select wine and see if we could identify them. I couldn't even with my notes.

This afternoon I learned how meticulous the judgings are run. There is lots of prep work ahead of time, sorting the wines by varietal, numbering them, there are two bottles of each wine to be judged, cross referencing them (as the tastings are blind), then everything hauled to the site of the judging. Oh and the glasses! I have never SEEN so many wine glasses! Then comes the work of the back room volunteers, glasses are labeled, red wines are decanted twice (once into a pitcher and then back into the bottle), then they are poured (50 mL) into each glass. They can sit around for awhile, but all should sit around the same length of time.

The whites, otoh, cannot sit around and timing is key with them. Since they are served chilled, not cold (unless it is ice wine), judging white wines while also judging red wines, as in today's judging, can really throw a monkey wrench into things. Timing becomes critical.

After the wine is poured then it is served to the judges. I have never worked in any type of food service and so this too was new to me. Walking out of one room with 16 glasses of wine on a tray and into another, balancing it and putting it down and presenting the wines in order to the judge is no small feat.

When a flight is done the glasses are emptied (the judges all spit and do not swallow the wine), labels removed from the glasses, glasses returned to the dishwashing area for them to be cleaned to continue through a total of 260 wines. 260 wines, 5 professional judges, 5 amateur judges (more on that later), and a moderator, I'll do the math... a potential for 2860 glasses of wine over two days.

Still think you want to be a wine judge? Yeah, I did too until a few years ago. I remember thinking what a cush job wine judges had, sit around and drink all day and write about it. Oh yeah, not to mention all the free wine you get for drinking when you aren't judging. What could be better? I decided awhile back that I like being a consumer, I like drinking my wine and not spitting, I like coming up with adjectives to describe wine only when I feel like it. Upon request I would write "cherry" so many times I would no longer be able to describe it. And there are also just wines I am not overly fond of.

But regardless there are oodles of wine lovers out there eager to have their day to play wine judge, and so the amateur, consumer panel came to be. A few readers of Wine Press Northwest were invited to submit essays for competition. Then those few winners were given the opportunity to come to the region, at their expense and be a judge for two days. A dream opportunity for many.

Me? I will just work in the backroom and when I hear which wines scored the highest, stroll over to that bottle for a taste. Ok, that would be the not pregnant me. The pregnant me just smelled the winners and made a mental note.

I had a really good time today and learned a ton. This afternoon was not nearly so hectic as the previous day and so I was able to ask questions and take my time. I smelled cork taint (wet newspaper) for the first time. Ok, so I have probably smelled and tasted it before and had no idea what it was. If 3% of wines have cork taint, well then I have drank many, many cork tainted bottles.

The professional judges were kind and courteous and friendly. Both AB and I, didn't get the same feeling out of the consumer panel. Our conclusion is that to them, I am not a scientist who took some vacation time to come take the opportunity to "volunteer" my time with absolutely no food service experience. Our feelings were that to the consumer panel, we were the wait staff. On the flip side, the judges knew exactly what hard work it takes to pull off a judging and be timely with everything. They know we are volunteers and there simply for our sheer love of wine, to learn and to support our friends when possible.

I am not sure I have worked so hard, yet had so much fun and learned so much in a single afternoon of playing hookey!

Long live the grape!