THE AMATEUR WINEMAKERS > NATIONAL GUILD OF JUDGES

N E W S L E T T E R

FEBRUARY 1973

Copyright reserved. Confidential

THE AMATEUR WINEMAKERS' NATIONAL GUILD OF JUDGES

N E W S

CONFIDENTIAL .. ..

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEWS

A meeting of the Executive Committee was held on February 4-th at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London,

The Chairman, Andy Andrews, looked at least ten years younger than us vial. The donkey riding in Benidorm the week before must have been beneficial/

Harrogate National Conference

It has been decided the Guild w ill have a Stand at the Show to publicise the objectives and aims, to help anyone wishing to become a Judge to understand what is entailed by the examination procedure and the qualifications necessary. A large nap showing where each judge-resides and the examination venues w ill form the main backcloth of the Stand.

HELP IS REQUIRED TO MAN THE STAND not only whilst judging is in progressbut for the uhcfe of the Conference.- .VOLUNTEERS 1 names please to Vic Tubb for an hourly rota during any of the following timess

Friday 6.30 to 9 p.m.Sat. 9.00 to 6 p.m.Sun, 10,00 to 12.30 p,m.

Vic and Nan Tubb are in process of - removing to Hayle, Cornwall, but Vic w ill be staying in Nottingham for a few months and correspondence should be addressed to;

Health Department Huntingdon Street Nottingham NG 1 3LZ.

Nan; 41 St. Georges Road jHayle Hayle, C ornwaLl. 3&3UI •

L E T T E R

. , " Editor? Mrs.H.Timbrel!17 The Byeway HASTINGS, TN3/+ 2AY.

' ; Has.28168

. No, 33. February 1973

Judges 1 Name Badges

Archie Moore is preparing badges fo r a l l A.W.N.G,J. Judges to wear at the Conference, as requested at the A.G.M, These w i l l be available at the Stand before the briefing. WILL ALL JUDGES PLEASE COLLECT THEIR BADGES ON THE FRIDAY EVENING. Please le t Archie know immediately i f you want your name badge made contrary to your entry in the Register.

Overseas News

A le t te r has been received from Sydney, Australia, saying that the Club there is over 100 strong and more clubs are forming a l l the time. The Handbook already sent has been studied and fu l l deta ils o f the examination procedure are now required.

So now i t 's not only America, Canada and South A frica follow ing the A/W.N.G.J Gt. B rita in 's lead but Australia is also join ing'the 'International Wine S e t '.

Emergency' Committee

Members w i l l have read Doug. Lancaster's le t te r in the December News Letter. A reply has pince been sent to him of which an extract is given below;

"Your le t te r in the la s t News Letter regarding the setting up of' an-Emergency Committee was discussed at the Executive Committee Meeting recently. The sub­committee consists o f the Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and Vice-Chairman, The Executive Committee meets four or fiv e times a year and occasionally matters arise which demand attention in between these meetings. Such matters would include the admission o f new

members to the Guild'r---Candidates----■— who pass the examination very soona fter a fu l l Executive Committee'..-.......Meeting, should not have to. wait fo r possibly two or three months before being admitted to the Guild. The sub-C om it tee has power to admit such members, I t would also deal with complaints from the public and any matters which require "urgent attention. Any o f its decisions would need to be approved by the -• fu l l Executive Committee. I would assure you that there is no question of there being anything -underhand ' about the Committee. So far as the suggestion o f i t being a d iscip linary Committee,- this is not so. Anycomplaint about a Guild Member ...... -- ■would be looked into by the Emergency -• Committee so that a fu l l report could be submitted to the Executive Committee and any action talcen by the fu l l Committee.

Cheating at Shows

Bryan Acton’s request fo r action by the Executive Committee to gather together s c ie n tific talent among ’ winemakers to carry out analysis was discussed. The Executive does not consider the hiring of computer capacity, the purchase of a

.spectroscope or a refractometer a viable 'propositiorr at th e ;mQiaent.

Representatives fo r N.A,A.W. A.G.M. ; at Harrogate_____________ ____________

Brian Hutchinson and Vic Tubb were nominated to be the representatives o f the Judges Guild at the forth ­coming Annual General Meeting.

Hampshire Regional Group

"The request by this Group fo r a representative'to be co-opted to attend Committee Meetings received sympathetic, consideration. This is the only flourishing.Group not represented on the Committee.

Although under the present Constitu­tion the Executive has no power to

oo-op%-€-rc«j-.a-.Regioaali;Group, there is no objection to an Observer attending the neeti-ngs, although i t should be noted that no expenses could be paid.

Judging S ta tistics fo r ,1972

Recorded Average

Records received 88 ■---............. .

Total number o f ..... .wines^ judged 38739 440

Records jBeerX 36 Total number of • ■

beers judged 3647 .101

Grand Total 1 . J88I 42436 482

f - 140 Members\jculd give to ta lNo. o f bottles 67500

Engagements recorded Average fo r 140 1305 ' 14 2033

No. o f Classes rec.2021 23 3217

Examination Adjudicators fo r 1973

Dave Moon w il l be asked to join the ranks 'o f the Beer Adjudicators. No change otherwise,•

Examination Results

Mr. A.‘J,C. .Badger o f High VFycombe and Mr', B, Cross o f Nottingham w il l be invited to jo in 'the Judges Guild following their success in examinations held since the A,;G.M. in November.-'

Regional Group Discussion Reports■

Please "note that a l l Regional Reports' should be sent to Vic Tubb, who w i l l then.circulate them to a l l Regions for discussion as w ell as the N/L Editor.

Vic would lik e to hear from a l l Group Leaders who have not contacted- him previously sc his records may be brought up to date,.

Judges Guild Annual General Meeting

The Committee discussed Doug, Lancaster's suggestion that members should be informed w ell in advance o f subjects to be discussed at the A.G.M. This is done as far as possible but subjects for discussion are not always agreed until a fter the booking fo r the Conference is arranged. At the 1972 A.G.M, there were no Group Discussions and i t is unlikely that there w il l be such discussions again this year. An 'Open Form ' is held where members can express their views on any topic re lating to judging but the informal socia l atmosphere is considered important and time is allowed for th is, Advance notice o f the 1 • ine Tasting last year could not be given as this was not f in a l ly arranged until close to the date.Regarding the suggestion that a postal vote fo r O fficers and Committee be held, this scheme does have some advantages but i t also has some disadvantages. At the .1972 A.G.M, there were 62 members present and voting. There is no guarantee that a l l members would go to the trouble o f voting by post with a l l its additional cost and inconvenience to themselves. Such a scheme would involve a major amendment to the Constitution and would require a formal submission o f such amendment fo r inclusion in the Agenda fo r the Annual General Meeting in November 1973.

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A suggestion has been made that the Conference weekend should commence on Friday evening, This, fo r example, would enable a wine tasting to be held at a more appropriate time than Sunday morning. Perhaps Regions w il l discuss this proposal.

National Conference I97A

Would Judges be interested in a Hotel specia lly fo r them - with partners of course where this applies?

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I f anyone is interested w ill they please contact Vic Tubb.

Next Meeting o f Executive Committee

6th May 1973.

SAD NEWS

Many members w i l l have heard of the death of a former Secretary o f the National Association o f Amateur Winemakers - Wing Comdr. Reginald Woodley - just before Christmas.

C yril Berry attended the funeral service at Monxton not only as Mayor Jbecause Reg, had many loca l Government connections, Rural D is tr ic t Councillor, etc.J but also representing the National Association o f Amateur Winemakers,Wing Comdr. G. Newton represented the Andover C ircle, of which Reg and his wife were very successful Joint Hon. Secretaries at one time. His g i f t fo r meticulous organisation and conscientiousness made him invaluable in this role and la ter these same attributes found even greater outlet when he became Secretary of the National Association and he was equally re liab le and energetic in this role until i l l health began to take its t o l l and eventually’ forced his retirement. ........

A keen winemaker, his services to winemaking were great, perhaps greater than was generally appreciated, at National leve l, and he was one of those who did much to ensure that our National movement rested upon sound foundations.

Wing "Comdr. Woodley not only had a distinguished R.A.F. career and was a member of the team that developed early warning radar at Bawdsley Manor, Felixstowe but he was at heart an extremely kind, straightforward and honest man and many w il l remember him as a good, true friend. He re a lly did a lo t fo r our cause.

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After bravely bearing a distressing illness over the last year or so,Fred Whippey o f■■ Teddington died- a.t his home on February 13th.

Three-members o f the J- -.... ...... ••••Executive Committee, who had known the depth of his friendship, attended the cremation - Don Hebbs-,-Wilf Newsom and T i l ly Timbre11 - and many friends from the loca l Twickenham Guild weve also present.

A fly in g man of the f i r s t World War who was awarded the D.F.C, a Customs and Excise O fficer, a music lover, a dedicated winemaker whose s c ien tific knowledge was often invaluable to his friends and evening class students, jo in t designer of the E.llaway hydrometer, a founder member of the Guild of Judges and later an Adjudicator, Fred was a l l these things, and more. He was a man with a quiet unassuming nature who never wasted words, young in heart and s p ir it i f not in years, whose friendship meant help and considera­tion whenever these qualities were needed,

He w i l l indeed be sadly missed.

Our deepest sympathies go out to Win Woodley and Daisy Whippey,The passing of a .life-tim e's partner must surely be the greatest loss of a l l - so le t us not forget them in their widowhood.

MEASUREMENT OF ALCOHOLIC STRENGTH- OF 7-iINES

Bernard Brown of Reading writes challenging Bryan Acton's remarks on pages 5 and’ 6 of the Dec«wber News Letter regarding the use of a pocket refractometer, as unders-

'■The only alcoholic JethylJ beverage that can be strength estimated with the aid of a pocket refractometer alone is a. simple aqueous solution of ethyl alcohol JVodkaJ.

To suggest that H.M, Customs and Excise use such an instrument alone with "guaranteed accuracy", fo r s p ir it strength determination of wines is , at the very least, mis­leading, Customs & Excise do indeed use a modified Bellingham & Stanley pocket refrcctometer fo r quick checks on s p ir it strength but the re fracto­meter is useless without the rest of the k it which comprises a modified Sikes' sacchraroneter and a set o f tables prepared by the laboratory o f the Government Chemist,

I t is thus ridiculous to suggest that "a teaspoonful of wine" can be.used fo r a strength determination "backstage". I would love to see Bryan trying to flo a t a S ikes' in a teaspoonful of wine.' Any attempt to dilu te the sample to make this possible would only increase the inaccuracy of estimation. The method is only useful at a l l because the ch ief "impurities" in' alcoholic aqueous beverages are ethyl alcohol and sugars, The greater the quantity and varie ty o f other substances present the less accurate, the estimates of sp ir it strength w i l l be when inferred from re fractive index and specific gravity measurements because the underlying assumptions become less va lid . Even the "make up" of the to ta l sugar content of the sample w il l influence the accuracy o f the estimate.

Such a method is feasib le , when used within its Im ita tion s , because Solutions o f ethyl alcohol and 'sugar

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in water both have re fractive indices higher than that of water alone, so that when both are present at the sane time, both contribute to the observed re fractive index of the sample. On the other hand, solutions of alcohol and sugar have spec ific gravities which diverge as solution strength increases.Rock bottom is approximately 0.789 fo r pure ethyl alcohol at 20°C,When present together they act against each other thus tending to ".in in is e c hange.

This means that simultaneous equa­tions can be derived, relating the re fractive index arid the specific grav ity o f the alcoholic mixture with the percentage o f alcohol and sugar, of the forms

R = .1 * k]_S + k^A

- k, A 4

Where R & D are respectively the re fractive index and 'specific grav ity o f the mixture, S the percentage o f sugar and A the percentage o f alcohol.

Thus the difference between R & D, when expressed in suitable" units, is proportional to the alcohol, content. The values appropriate fo r the constants k i, kz, k3, k4 depend on the nature o f the actual alcoholic beverage to- be tested and on the nature o f the sugars involved.

I t should, then be. clear to anyone contemplating using such a system that sets o f tables w i l l be needed fo r each class o f beverage to be examined, possibly s ix sets would cover amateur needs including everything from ligh t beers to liqueurs. I t might also be appropriate to point out that, even when reading the refractometer scale, considerable s k i l l and care.is necessary to e ffe c t the necessary estimation to .1/10 of a scale d ivision . So far as cost is

concerned, the most recent quotation I have fo r the refractometer Jabout two years o ld j is £37.50, well above the £25 that Bryan quotes. I have no figures fo r a Sikes' but they don't come cheap, The tables, of course, would have to be prepared to suit the system adopted and involve a deal of painstaking work.

Have no fears, gentle judges, anyone purporting to practice or attempting to introduce such a system w il l need very close scrutiny indeed.

Bernard Brown, "

The above is obviously a subject we shall a l l be able to discuss in depth at our Regional Group Meetings,'.','

Ed.

whatever the reaction to Bryan Acton's a rt ic le s , at least he does write to the News Letter and here is his latest e ffo r t .

"Just before Christmas I got the English Flu. I avoid doctors so I just made myself a massive hot punch and went to bed and drank about half a gallon of water during the night. Jlou must have been i l l Bryan.' Ed. I

In the morning I founr1 that thetemperature and the perspiration had......combined -to give me a permanent wave to ny hair in the la tes t ' f i r s t thing in the morning' s ty le . That was the least o f my problems. The side e ffec ts o f this v io len t influenza was to change my taste buds. Beer tasted o f quinine, Guinness o f quinine with burnt match- sticks, white wine had the flavour of yeast disintegration and re^ wine could not even be faced. A ll forms o f beef or lamb had the smell o f rancid butter.I found by experiment that cider tasted OK and that I could enjoy hazel nuts and'' chips - that was in fact my. Christmas dinner which I enjoyed.

I have never before been faced with such a 'variation in ray palate on such a scale. I t brings to mind however that in snail ways every one o f our Guild probably at some- time or other is faced with the sane problem though on a s’a&i'ler scale! The Handbook in fact gives a clear guide that i f a judge is suffering from various things j i t mentions hangovers but not 'f lu j he is in no condition to judge.a class. I turned down a small judging. I was not popular but I think the Show organiser respected my reasons, Vhat I had not realised, since i t had never occurred before, was the .mount o f moral courage one has to summon up in order to say to a show organiser " I am sorry I-cannot'judge your show because the resu lt w i l l be a nonsense". I re a lly do fe e l fo r you judges who might be the only judge for 50 miles around suffering from any of the Handbook illnesses Jindigestion, cold, catarrh or hangoverJ who is faced with this problem.

Although i t is a somewhat immoral suggestion, i t might be a useful experiment at Harrogate, to obtain a judge with a guaranteed hangover to judge a set of bottles on Sunday morning which have already been judged accurately on the. previous day, to see i f in his state o f damaged palate he c a n ,s t ill find the best wine,

Bryan Acton."

. . .AND MORE ON PALATES from RoyRoycroft

In October issue T i l ly asks w i l l anyone admit to a sim ilar experience to having thought she'd .lost her IT. Yes, I had a somewhat sim ilar experience. Judging a class of dry apple wine I found the same faults | though. they weren't fo u lj and the same flavour in .a l l .19 wines, and there wasn't much between them fo r quality. I thought 'something must be wrong' - d ifferen t apples make d ifferen t wine,' Had I got a cold? Had I scalded- my mouth recently? and̂ so on.

The pay o ff cane-when I said to a committee member "They a l l seemed to be the same wine with the same fau lts, I 'v e given a 1,2,3 on small differences but I can be wrong", ’’Not surprising", she replied, "We had a .load o f apples

’ Jone va rie ty j from an orchard and shared them out to be made s t r ic t ly to the same recipe as an experiment,”

My greatest apprehension, however, was when I got to the tenth wine and they a l l appeared to me to be almost devoid o f smell and flavour. Was I trying to judge with a lo s t sense of smell? What a r e l ie f when two or three wines la ter I had one with both smell and flavour, Later I rechecked some of those f i r s t wines and they were s t i l l the same, I., never found the answer as to why there were so many lik e i t .

No, T i l ly , you need not worry about losing your IT and not knowing you have. Your appreciation of wine is by taste Jsalt, sour, sweet and b itterJ texture and smell which combine to give flavour. I f >ou lost your 'pa la te ' you would have lost your sense of smell and you should be aware o f that. I f you are not sure you can always check by taking a good s n iff at some known pong.

Roy Roycroft "- ooOoo -

, ...And yet Roy, I know of one person . who claimed he had‘no Sense o f smell who afterwards passed his Judging Exam,,' How can that be explained?

T i l ly

CAN THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TAKE __________ CRITICISM? . __________

A further view expressed by Roy Roycroft

" I t was certa in ly gra tify in g to read in our Chairman's le tte r Jcirculated with the AGM agenda last yearj that the Guild is known and "held In.such esteem by our winemaking colleagues from overseas". I was however unhappy to read the added note "^particu larly when, fo r reasons best known to themselves,

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we are receiving criticisr:; fron one or two individuals p . I appreciate the sincerety and entitlement to the opinion and was not unhappy about i t as an opinion. I was unhappy because being published as fron the Chairman i t could deter members from expressing ju s tifiab le criticism . I t may even prevent others expressing opinions fo r fear o f them being considered criticism . This la tte r in my opinion is most undesireable in view o f the already existing d if f ic u lty in coercing members into expressing their views in the News Letter.

I t is a w ell accepted fact that ju s tifia b le , factual and/or constructive criticism Jnot so le ly destructive critic ism j is the stimulant and l i f e blood o f progress and improvement.A society, whether i t be a nation, tribe or guild, which does not accept critic ism , suffers from decadence and turgidescence. Frequently such societies are, or deteriorate to, a dictatorship. F a ir ly to c r it ic is e is not a question o f poor fellowship fo r the better the fellowship the more. .... read ily is ju s tifiab le criticism acknowledged. So may I suggest "Let us have ju s tifiab le or constructive critic ism from more members and le t the Committee answer the c r it ic s , through the News Letter, either by acknowledging with corrective action or refuting with reasons Inot the 'silence o f the dead' that has occurred in the pastj and so le t us improve the standards and improve the image o f our guild and engender better fellowship ."

P.S. Above is a suggestion o f the answer to "fo r reasons best known to themselves". Probably the one or two c r it ic s have sincerely wanted to improve the standards and image o f the Guild. The good o f the Guild has been their aim.

Roy Roycroft".

EDITORIAL

The National Conference w il l soon be upon us once more - one of the few opportunities in the year when members of the Guild can get together to workalongside each other as" well as to........mingle soc ia lly .

I never cease to be amazed at the way winemakers come from a ll ' corners of cur Island to jo in in this great competition and socia l occasion. In my mind's eye I'm always in a 'plane watching a l l the cars laden with wine converging on one spot.

Always - whatever the various drawbacks o f d iffe ren t venues or fa ilin gs in some aspect or another o f organisation - the Conferences have to me been great occasions. The ir r ita t in g people, the pot hunters who are so earnest, the poor meals at some holiday camps, the lack o f creature comfort on some occasions JCaister fo r exampleJ Jand don't get me wrong, I nean the .lack o f warmth in the chalets J, the ta lkative stewards, the competitors who conduct post-mortems and consider they should have won, some 'bossy' organisers who, l e t ’s face i t are worked o f f their fee t, and the minor upsets between friends which sometimes occur - a l l these things are as f l ie s at a picnic on a beautiful summer's day, put in perspective and forgotten when the event is over. Only the warmth o f friendship, the funny things the other judges said, the sing songs, the jokes at the chalet parties, the pleasure o f spending a weekend at a good hotel with one's friends,, the interesting facets o f judging, dancing on the cafe tables on the front at Bournemouth, dancing the Conga through the h istoric rooms at Brighton and a l l the other 'happenings' which go to make up memories, are stored in the f i l in g cabinet o f the brain to make up the kaleidoscope o f Conferences.

However dedicated and s c ien tific we might be about our winemaking, or however "Jamboreeish" we might be

Jas Ben Turner once called me, God Bless hin and the rose in his button­hole.' le t us not forget that winemaking- is , a fter a l l , only a hobby and, as such, meant to be enjoyed.

SOME POINTS TO PONDER OVER WHILST JUDGING AT THE NATIONAL

One further le t te r fron Roy Roycrofts

"As convenor of judges recently I had cause to consider seriously means o f reducing the time required fo r judging as the allocated span was lim ited. I t became obvious to ne that far too much emphasis and tine is wasted on presentation, which includes sediment and f i l t e r s . Jl have heard queried the positioning of fta ters and sediment, and can remember no guild ruling on th is, but obviously they are part o f presentation. They are not part of colour or c la r ity unless the bottle is v io len tly shaken, nor of bouquet, and w i l l only adversely a ffec t quality during production,!

I concluded that spending nearly as much time on presentation as the remainder of judging, or spending 'ninutes' looking fo r a minute floa te r to be pointed out to the steward, is not ju s t if ia b le , The whole o f presentation which includes

the size o f bottlethe type o f bottlethe colour o f the bottlethat the bottle is puntedthat the bottle is cleanthe shape o f the corkthe material o f the corkthe newness o f the corkthe la b e l!s j is of the right typethe labelJsI is correctly positioned .the .label is cleanthere are no other labels

the presence o f floa ters the presence of loose sediment

are a l l together only worth 2 points out o f 30, R ela tive ly therefore judging time fo r presentation is only worth 4 ■minutes in every hour o f judging, and there are sound lo g ica l reasons that the time occupied should be reduced to its absolute minimum. These reasons also give the answer .to what is the minimum, as under?-

1. The judges primary and major function is to assess the quality of the wines. and. place then in order of merit.Qu&lity also is the primary reason fo r the wines being entered,

2, Presentation? v iz . size/shape/ colour etc. o f bottles and corks, and the type and positioning o f labels are only fo r the appearance of the show,They have no relationship to "the quality o f the wine, and however nuch tine the judge spends on presentation the appear­ance o f the show is in no way affected by what he assesses. The bottles are already there on display.

3,. A ll of presentation, including floaters and sediment, is o f no importance to anv wine except the award winners when they are so close that one or two points woul^ a lter the award order.

4. Therefore, the only bottles which need be assessed fo r presentation are those in the fin a l selection fo r awards, and assessment need only be nad.e to fin a lis e the winning order

and

5. the minimum tine fo r assessing presentation is the time taken to assess only the f in a l selection.

6. For a few bottles presentation nay be re la tive to 'Judges at the Bar' but the number of wines about which a judge is questioned is so small that a quick assessment, of the particular bottle can be made at the time of questioning and appropriate 'remark: made i f necessary.

From the foregoing I think i t is obvious to any competent judge that the order of assessing should be revised to fa c il ita te

core e ff ic ie n t judging by removing the inessential and permitting us to concentrate on the essential, Our judging would then commence with the f i r s t wine in our glass? i .e . fo r colour/clarity, followed by aroma/ bouquet and quality? and fin ish with assessment o f the fin a l selection of bottles only fo r presentation to fin a lis e the award order.

I t could mean a lteration to the layout of the judging'sheets but is in no way essential and could be made at any time when the sheets were reprinted.

I w i l l stick my neck out and say this should be a ru lin g :-of the Guild, but what do the Committee say? I f against w il l they please state lo g ica l Jnot emctionalj reasons why not. "

E.A. Roycroft

NEWS FROM ABROAD

I t seems Peter Duncan was too- busy to write at Christmas time but has made up fo r i t now and i t 's good to hear from him.

"Everything seems to have been happening at the sane time during the past few months. I 'v e just opened my own r e ta il winemaking supply store, started writing a weekly column fo r . a loca l newspaper, been contributing artic les to a Canadian magazine and to top i t a l l o f f I have a new job to which to adjust. L ife has therefore • been somewhat hectic to say the .least,'

Winemaking in Canada and the U.S.A. is nou beginning to make a rea l impact as a leisure time a c t iv ity and there's l i t t l e doubt in my mind that this trend w i l l continue. We over here produce wine in 5 gallon batches at least and find i t hard to comprehend that you s t i l l make i t one gallon at a time. A fter a.1.1, i t 's well known that 5 gallons are almost as easy to make as one gallon and, besides, i t lasts nearly twice as loner,'

In a more serious vein, I'm pleased to report that Canada is now w ell on the way to becoming properly organised with respect to wine shows mid judging. Although the provincial liquor laws are not always sympathetic to the cause, we have already had several Ontario provincial shows and a couple o f Canadian National Shows, Nothing spectacular, o f course, but we did have entries from as far away as British Columbia, Manitoba and Nova Scotia as w ell as from Ontario andQuebee-for the .1972 National whic.h. wag...held in Toronto, When you consider that Vancouver is about as close to Toronto as London is , perhaps you may begin to appreciate how d if f ic u lt i t is to set up and organise a Canadian, le t alone a North American, 1 association of winemakers such as you have in Britain,

Despite these d if f ic u lt ie s , we do have the Amateur Winemakers of Canada and a National Guild o f Judges which are s t i l l in their infancy but nevertheless functioning quite e ffe c t iv e ly . Since I am the only member o f the British Guild o f Judges in North America at the moment, I have had a fa ir amount of influence on the way things have developed. We've learned from the experience our British counterparts have gained over the years and have thus avoided some of the p it fa l ls into which we would otherwise have fa llen .

For example, a l l our classes are purpose classes fo r table wines, dessert wines, a p e r it ifs , sparkling wines and so on,' and there are none by ingredients. Indeed, any attempt to introduce ingredient classes meets great disapproval," Since I have always favoured c lass ifica tion by purpose,I an delighted 'that winemakers over here have decided to adopt this approach on their own in it ia t iv e , and th ere 'is no question that i t is working extremely well.

We have also lim ited the entries to our classes in such a way that we w i l l never have the problem of enormous classes which plagues you in Britain.

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I t would take, ne too long to explain how i t works in a le t te r o f this size and in any case i t would be d if f ic u lt for you to implement now. Since we have had the res tric tion from the start, i t has never been questioned and is proving its worth in practice.

With best wishes,

Peter M, Duncan,”

REPORT OF SOUTH WESTERN REGIONAL _____________ GROUP_________________

A chatty le t te r was received from Gerry Whitehouse regarding their Gr6up Meeting, which is reproduced below?-

"Looking back on the f i r s t meeting in 1973 o f the South Western Regional Group, the f i r s t thing that strikes me i s .that we discussed everything except judging,

The follow ing observations did come out o f the discussion which we trust a l l w i l l find interesting.

F irs t, a surprising fac t which should be obvious is that in the Plymouth area the main entries in the smaller horticultural shows are now very often the wine classes with a decline in the horticultural entries. We hope the trend does not continue whereby causing a shortage of produce to make our wines from,'

Some members who have kept records o f the yeasts used in prize-winning wines show that serious winemakers have turned to liqu id or cultured yeasts, but no evidence of any marked characteristic in any particular yeast used has shown up, C.W,E. is the most common yeast used, but wines made with i t do not get such a high proportion o f winners as the liquid and cultured yeasts.

Members would be interested to know from other groups i f anyone has any observations on the storing o f yeast cultures in the deep freeze, e.g.Does i t lose any o f its reproductive capacity? ■

The last item to be discussed was the question o f the steward who a fter a judging session wanders around the meeting te llin g everyone in his own words to suit himself, exactly what the Judge said. I t was agreed that a person lik e this could ruin a Judge's reputation and that whilst Judges should take their stewards along with them as fa r as possible, i t was a good idea to say to then what you think, but think befpre you say.

With best wishes,

Gerry".

The above is reprinted because i t is a chatty le t te r . Now that details o f Group Discussions are going f i r s t ' to Vic Tubb, as mentioned at the beginning of this News Letter, fo r general discussion, summarised points o f view from several groups, or items o f particular in terest only w i l l be p r in te d in this circu lar. Factual, n inute-like reports, often with the sane subjects re-discussed, do not, in the Editor's opinion, make fo r interesting reading.

However, i f a Group particu larly wishes details o f a particular item discussed to be printed, please mark the item "N/L" in the margin when sending to V ic, and i t w i l l be ear­marked fo r the News Letter upon circulation.

Regarding Gerry's le t te r and the records kept o f yeasts used in prize winning wines, might i t be a useful exercise fo r Judges at the Bar at the National Conference to enquire o f any prize-winners encountered, the type o f yeast used? I f a note of findings

- 11 -

are relayed to the Editor, these w il l be correlated and printed, in next issue.

There was a smile on the Eds. face when typing about the reproductive capacity o f yeast when stored in a deep freeze. Poor yeast - how would you lik e such treatment?.’ ,'

PET AVERSIONS

frca Vic Goffen.

"Quotes I wish I hadn't heard.

Fron a convenorsMI 'n afraid your class is somewhat .larger than we expected - can you manage 78 bottles?

J2|....... and B i l l le t me down at thela s t minute. Ire Judge who delibera te ly le ts a convenor downj.

131W ill you le t the Treasurer know of your expenses - i f any,'

UIThis is rcther a mixed up class.

Frog a Judges

Too much acid I'm afraid.Too l i t t l e acid I'm afraid.

Fron competitorss

IIIBut i t won a second at the National,

MI t a l l depends on who is judging.

Ke ' s only just passed, his examination, yen know.

SOUND AMD WINE

The following was seen in a magazine. Any ideas?

" I read in a New York newspaper that one Dr. Kristian Holthansen, a Danish psychologist, has discovered that the taste o f a l l drinks is affected by the sound with which their drinking is accompanied. Each drink has its ideal tone. This tone d iffe rs even between a strong ale and a lager,

Could you please t e l l me what music to play at a l i t t l e dinner party at which I plan to serve a Puligny- Montrachet .les Combettes '66 and a Volnay Santenots '64, Jboth shipped by Williams & HumbertJ? Also at how many decibels to set the sound o f the record player? "

INFORMATION FROM LONG ASHTON

I recently wrote to Dr, Beech asking i f i t were possible to le t the Judges have any information on the research carried out there.

He has very kindly offered to le t me have what information he can fron tine to time but this is very much governed by the amount of work on hand at Long Ashton and consequent pressures.

I have in fac t a copy o f the Introduction to the Section's Annual Report fo r 1972, This is somewhat s c ie n t if ic and would not, possibly, in terest a l l Judges besides being far too long to type in its entirety. I had thought o f typing extracts but an afraid the context might su ffer from this abbreviation,

I f any Judges are interested in having a copy of the Introduction, therefore, woulH they please send me a foolscapS.A.E. and I w i l l get the Report reproduced. Please do not contact Long Ashton d irect in this regard. T i l ly ,