Medals and scores help sell wine. But it’s not that simple. Not all competitions or critics are equal and, just as crucially, they do not necessarily operate in the same way.
Around 450 different sparkling wines from classic bottle fermentation were put into the glasses at the Meininger German Sparkling Wine Award. The upward trend continues, and the sparklings are becoming increasingly high-class - and bold.
After decades of writing about wine and editing and judging other people's words on the subject, Robert Joseph wonders whether there will ever be a vocabulary that works for everyone.
Held in Wiesbaden, Germany, the MW Symposium brought together luminaries of the wine world, for four days of ideas, tastings and networking. Meininger's was there.
The wine industry focuses a lot of attention on the way wine performs in blind tastings and less on the way it is perceived by the people who actually drink it - and why. Top researchers are conducting studies but Robert Joseph impudently wonders if they are asking the right questions.
7,568 wines from 44 countries - one even from Afghanistan - were in line for the MUNDUS VINI spring tasting. 242 jurors from all over the world awarded prizes to the best wines. As a premiere, the category "alcohol-free" was tasted for the first time, with 131 still wines and 56 sparkling 'wines'.
Fresh from his experience at the 2023 ASI Meilleur Sommelier du Monde, Robert Joseph suggests that wine service professionals now know more about the drinks industry as a whole than almost anybody else.
Tradition demands the participation of individuals who are dedicated to preserving it. For the Trentino winegrowers’ cooperative Mezzacorona, this involves safeguarding the indigenous grape varieties Teroldego and Marzemino, showcasing their qualities both as monovarietal wines and in blends.
