Rating Scale
Ratings will use the 100 point Wine Spectator scale.
The numerical rating will be used to determine medal winners and advancement to the subsequent round.
| 100-90 | A Classic Wine, Among The Best Wines In The World |
| 94-90 | Outstanding, Superior Character And Style |
| 89-85 | Very Good, A Wine With Special Qualities |
| 84-80 | Good, A Well Made Wine Of Good Quality |
| 79-75 | Average, A Drinkable Wine That May Have Minor Flaws |
| 74-50 | Not Recommended (NR) |
| 49-0 | No Score (NS) |
Medals
Gold Outstanding/Classic 90-100 points
Silver Very Good 85-89 points
Bronze Good 80-84 points
Tasting Notes
Our esteemed judges assemble tasting notes for each wine commenting on:
• Appearance: clear or dull, color, intensity, other visual observations
• Aroma: descriptors as to clean or faulty aromatics, fruit, floral, vegetal, spice, oak, chemical, animal, and intensity
• Flavor: dry, off dry, etc. RS, character of the alcohol, acidity, body, tannin, oak, fruit, floral, vegetal, spice, oak, chemical, animal, and intensity
• Overall Quality
• Commercial Suitability
The average wine score will be used to determine if it qualifies for a medal.
Preliminary Round
Over the course of 3 days, each wine is tasted by 6 judges. This is a single-blind tasting, meaning that judges only know the grape or category of a wine, but the vintage, winery and name are hidden behind coded-glasses. Finally, individual judges’ scores of a wine are averaged into one score after the lowest score is dropped.
Final Round
Over the course of 3 days, 12 judges assess the highest ranking wines from the preliminary round. Unlike the preliminary round, each judge samples all of the Final Round wines. Each wine in the Final Round receives a final average score after lowest is dropped. The 12 wines with the highest average score are identified as the “Governor’s Cup Case®.” The wine with the highest overall score is the Governor’s Cup® Winner.