GIVEN THE accusations and counter-accusations that have raged on between certain wine fundis of late, you cannot but wonder about the merits of what was being argued and the motivations of those who got involved in the argument one way or another. Core to the debate are issues that have occupied the minds of many scribes and wine enthusiasts the world over, issues unlikely to be resolved any time soon, revolving around wine scoring methodology and rating definitions in comparing the best wines nationally and internationally. It can get heated. And it’s a pity!

In his 2018 Special Report on the wines and wineries of South Africa, British Master of Wine Tim Atkin considered the 2015 vintage of Kanonkop’s Bordeaux-style red blend Paul Sauer (WO Simonsberg-Stellenbosch) to be the best of some 2000 wines assessed during his research for the report, giving it a score of 100 out of 100. While topping his white wine scorecard was a Chenin Blanc from Chris Alheit outside Hermanus, Magnetic North 2017, plus a blend from the Sadie Family outside Malmesbury, ‘T Voetpad 2017, both awarded 99 points. Subsequently, however, leading SA wine critic Michael Fridjhon wrote on Winemag that Atkin had over-scored these wines, good as they are. Fridjhon suggested that it is not yet time to rate current releases from the Cape in quite such superlative fashion, although he could think of “several mature wines that sit comfortably with the very best examples produced anywhere in the world”. And so the deliberations began, reputations on the line.

Not that these were the first or only wines of the Cape to be so lauded, with Atkin’s fellow MWs Jancis Robinson and Greg Sherwood on record as having given perfect scores to the mysterious GS Cabernet 1966 and golden oldie red blend Chateau Libertas 1957 respectively – the former a one-off of sorts and recent vintages of the latter carrying no great expectations. Mind you, as was pointed out, all five of these reviews were after experiencing the wines while knowing full well what was in the glass – sighted tastings by individual critics familiar with the backstories and invariably on first-name terms with the producers or their agents.

If it’s difficult enough for one (any) critic to deliver a ‘perfect’ verdict even when they know everything there is to know about the wine, it’s nigh impossible to come up with full marks from a panel of experts judging blind (labels etc out of sight). But does it matter?! Wine assessment is subjective to a greater or lesser degree; after a point there is always likely to be a difference of opinion. Many hold that while some wines are undoubtedly better than others, it’s unreasonable – not feasible even – to always agree on rankings within a Top 10, say. Celebrating the best group of wines is wonderful in itself, and it’s a pity when their beauty is compromised by squabbles over the exact pecking order and/or putting a number to precisely how good each wine is!

Anybody trying to reason that blind-tasting by a suitably qualified panel isn’t the most objective manner in which to calibrate wines is either fooling themselves or having you on – which is not to say that there aren’t limits to how many wines or how long the tasting before fatigue sets in. Of course we value the opinions of learned experts with vast experience and respected palates, but it pays to keep things in context, especially when the ‘lone rangers’ are dishing out full marks – no matter who is serving up the scores!