An interesting article by Tim Atkins (Master of Wine and wine writer for UK newspaper, The Guardian), raises a debate which I imagine has been going on for some time. He was responding to some questioning on the relevance of wine critics. “Misguided elitists” who talk among themselves rather than being concerned about guiding consumers is how he describes the taunts.

The most reputable wine critics, Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson to name a few, make a very good living from scoring wines and releasing comprehensive buyer guides. This is one end of the scale. So many wine drinkers take their every word as gospel. They are almost celebrities. The other end of the scale is the multitude of wine lovers, myself included, who just like writing about wine and sharing their experiences. Whether people really take notice of us is another matter.

Critical scores are great for some. For others, they just drink what they like. I thought this was a good paragraph from Atkins.

One of my favourite cartoons shows a punter tasting a sample in a wine shop. “This is disgusting,” he tells the manager. “The Wine Speculator gave it 96 points out of 100,” replies the manager. “OK, I’ll take 10 cases,” says the punter. People who buy wines they don’t like because someone else tells them to are fools.

Many wineries rely heavily on awards and accolades to sell wine because so many consumers rely on them to buy wine. My slight concern with the likes of the Decanter Awards and the International Wine Challenge is the cost to enter them. Many of the wineries who don’t have the marketing spend, or who decide to use it elsewhere, will not enter these competitions and will not be recognised, even though they possibly have a wine better than those partaking in their category.

So many excellent wines, for whatever reason, may be escaping the limelight. Despite this, accolades and awards may very well help to provide a better buying decision. I think wine critics and awards are a great thing. Many of our wines have received superb recognition, and rightfully so, but remember to take them with a pinch of salt. After all, nobody can tell you what the best wine in the world is. Only you know that.

Tim Atkins article is well worth a read.