Judging is under way at the showgrounds for Australia's leading wine competition, the Royal Melbourne Wine Show. By the time the show is finished judges will have assessed some 3,300 wines and awarded trophies and medals which will affect the fortunes of various wine companies for years to come.

Show judging is arguably this country's most important system of representative quality control for both the wine industry and consumers. It is an annual event where the experienced palates of industry professionals analyse by sense alone the quality or otherwise of a major sample (unlabelled) of the current crop of wines.

The task is formidable and to demonstrate just how difficult it is, chief judge, Bill Chambers, allowed me to taste 18 medal-winning chardonnays. Would my palate be able to pick which of the wines were awarded gold medals in the judging taste-off? I eventually settled on two bottles, both of which had pleasant barrel ferment character underlying the fruit. Wrong! The judges had awarded gold to three wines of the floral fruit and less oaky persuasion. Fashions change.

© Martin Field