What Were They Thinking!?!?

A few months ago was the Royal Adelaide Wine Show and as a self confessed wine nerd I found myself eagerly awaiting the results to be published. I did have an opportunity to go to the tasting but unfortunately my paying day job once again got in the way! A mate of mine did attend however and brought back with him a book of results. Browsing through the results for each class showed some interesting outcomes to say the least.

Jacobs Creek 2012 & 2013 Classic Riesling

One that peaked my interest in particular was Section 1 (Still Wine), Class 5 (2013 Riesling) and 6 (2012 Riesling). Where the 2012 Jacobs Creek Classic Riesling had taken a gold medal in class 6 and the 2013 picked up a silver medal in class 5. In fact the 2012 Riesling was the highest point scoring Riesling in its class!  Now as it often does, curiosity had got the better of me and I decided to take a look at these two wines.

2012 Jacobs Creek Classic Riesling

The Jacobs Creek Classic Range retails for around $11ish and is the entry level wine range for the Jacobs Creek label. They are a regional blend and the fruit parcels come from all over South Eastern Australia. The Classic range Riesling's are a dry style Riesling.

The 2012 scored a whopping 18.7pts out of a maximum 20 and was the highest point scoring Riesling in its class. These are my notes on the wine.

Pale straw in color. lemon rind on the nose little bit of minerality behind that. Right up front you get a tart zingy granny smith green apple acid hit, that fades away to reveal ripe lemon juice.
No great length and finishes with minerals and lime rind. 86pts

2013 Jacobs Creek Classic Riesling

The 2013 scored a respectable 17.7 points out of 20 and was only 1.1pts away form the top score. The crazies at the Royal Melbourne Show awarded it a "Best Riesling on Show' Trophy!! These are my notes.

Pale straw in color, mineral nose revealing some slight floral notes. On the palate you first get Intense crisp acid followed by lime flavors. Very short finish disappearing with lemon hints. lacks depth and structure 85pts




So are these wines worthy of their point scores, medals and tropthys???

Quite simply NO! These wines lack the depth, structure and complexity to be show medal winning wines! They are simple and lack balance. There were far more "worthy" wines in the same classes I'd grab off the shelf before these.

Does this mean they are bad wines? By all means no, they are great wines to drink on a Tuesday that you don't have to think about and are not going to break the bank. They are user friendly, easy to drink and un-offensive.

Unfortunately these were not the only results I failed to understand from the Royal Adelaide Wine Show. Which really left me thinking, what were the judges looking for? What were they thinking!?!?

For now Ciao,

B