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 10 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.