Every now and then this question is raised by a perfectly reasonable wine-writer, the evidence is perused and the uncomfortable conclusion, that the answer is nearer yes than no, is quietly shelved. The latest episode in this uncomfortable debate was outlined by David Derbyshire in The Observer June 23 2013. He describes the experience of a Californian winemaker, Robert Hodgson, who for years has entered his wines in various competitions around the State. He felt that awards were distributed at random rather than according to excellence. To test this he persuaded the organisers of one competition to let him present three glasses from the same bottle to the judges, mixed in amongst the 30 being tasted. He found that only 10% of judges who gave an award to one glass also gave it to another identical glass. Another 10% who gave one glass an award would give another identical glass an award but not at the same level (gold/silver/bronze). The other 80% showed no consistency.
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