THE JUDGES' NEWSLETTER

NATIONAL GUILD OF W INE A N D BEER JUDGES

Confidential to Members No. 4 1989

* The first item on our programme for the 1939 Guild Conference came after the Friday evening meal and was a presentation from Bass Worthington.

As always, I looked for a member to construct an article for this News Letter - and as always a "willing" victim was found. (Ed.) *

TUTORED BEER TASTINGGuild Conference and AGM 1989

This year's tasting was conducted by Mr Neal Bains, Head Brewer at the Bass Worthington Springfield Brewery.The three beers that we were to taste were a Dark Mild - a Bitter- and an I.P.A.Mr Bains was an interesting and witty speaker who guided us through the various ingredients and brewing stages of the three beers.

He had also brought along some samples of the various malts and hops that Bass use. - (the aroma from the bag of hop pellets was superb - and I am not sure whether Mr Bains managed to rescue them from the sticky little fingers of the various "beer boys" who hovered around them after the session was over.)

It was then 'tasting time' and the three 9 gallon barrels were broached.

For me, there was not a great deal of character in any of the three beers, but of the three I preferred the I.P.A., although interestingly enough Mr Bains said that this particular beer did not sell very well in the Midlands.

I'm afraid that I did not make a note of the gravities of the three beers.

This is due in part to the fact that by the time Ray had asked me if I would write this article most of the details had disappeared into an alcoholic haze, so, sorry about the brevity of this article - hope it will suffice.

Mike Davey London.

* We are rather spoilt having tasted other beers in other years when we have been overwhelmed with the standard and guality.I agree with Mike that this was NOT a Tutored Beer Tasting, the three beers presented were NOT very impressive, but if you drank enough, as Mike must have done, then there was an alcoholic haze.

However, Neal Bains gave a really delightful presentation, as a Master Brewer. He was extremely knowledgeable, humorous, indeed brave in facing some of the audience who would have pounced on any shortfall. With prompting, the gravities could have been as follows Dark Mild 1.032 - Bitter 1.036.5- & I.P.A. 1.039?What a giggle the word PEDICLE was for one "anonymous"!...(Ed) *

* 9.15am Saturday morning saw us willingly migrate to the Europa Suite for the commercial wine tasting of NEW WORLD WINES. For those unfortunate to miss this - Alan Kimber provides his notes *

NGWBJ Annual Conference 18 November 1989

COMMERCIAL WINE TASTINGOur tutor, Mr Stephen Webb, of the Hungerford Wine company, began by explaining a little of what he looked for, and the order in which he evaluated the separate details, when he was tasting a wine. I was personally pleased that he was unpretentious and down-to-earth in his comments.

We then began the first session, devoted to four white wines, one from New Zealand, two from Australia and one from the USA. In the course of introducing the wines Mr Webb gave us a number of statistics which illustrated the way in which the volume of quality wines in New Zealand and the USA had dramatically increased since the sixties (for example, in NZ, 400 hectares under vines had now grown to over 6.000) .

1 1988 Sauvignon Blanc, Delegats (New Zealand) £6.75 This wine from Hawkes Bay had a clear, pale-gold colour with just a hint of green and possessed a nose fairly typical of this grape in its grassy, gooseberry manifestation. It showed no real evidence of oak, was clean and delicious and very long on the palate. 10% alcohol. Universally liked.

2 1938 dry Muscat, Brown Bros. (Australia) £5.40 This wine from Milawa had a lemony-gold colour a little paler than No. 1. Its citrusy nose and slightly spicy finish all worked together quite well, but it was ultimately a little dull. (13% ale. pH 3.4 8.4grm per litre acidity)

3 1986 Semillon, Brown Bros. (Australia) £6.40 John Brown has said that this is the best Semillon (a grape well and interestingly handled in general in Australia) that they have ever produced. It split the gathering into two camps. Some found that its 14% alcohol, its almost oily texture and the level of oak was not for them. Others, including me, adored the honeyed and oaky nose (3 months in new oak) and the rich, dense and sustaining palate which its considerable concentration of ripe fruit gave it. To be fair there was also a bottle variation - one bottle showed a wine suffering from a degree of oxidation and this did not help some of the Judges to come to terms with it.

4 1986 Chardonnay, Villa Zapu (USA) £6.75 The first commercial production of this wine by the husband of the Swedish Ambassador to the USA (2,000 cases only) sold in a bottle with the somewhat kitchen designer (popl) label. There was oak on the nose but less intrusive than some Californians demonstrate and the wine in the mouth was austere rather than opulent, at 13.2%. Opinions were again divided, with some finding freshness lost in comparison to the first wine, whilst others praised its elegance. I liked it but would drink the Semillon any day in preference. MORE>

After the BARBAROUS (!) (according to Arthur Francis - and he's right really, isn't he?) intrusion of the Coffee break we moved onto the red wines.

5 1987 Cabernet Sauvignon, Miguel Torres (Chile) £4.95 Phylloxera is unknown in Chile!. The average age of vines, on the original ungrafted root-stock, is some 40 years in the better vineyards. Torres has set out, by his own admission, to produce a classic, elegant wine, matured in American oak. I personally found the wine possessed a vegetal nose and considerable tannin on the palate. This bothered me less than the feeling that, at 11.5% alcohol, it was rather lean and of insufficient fruit to match the tannin during its maturation period - the classic Bordeaux fault, in fact. The wine disappointed me.

6 1985 Shiraz, Peter Lehman (Australia) £5.20 Lehman, a Burgundy-type negociant, is responsible for assembling the pressing, vinification and maturation of some 10,500 tonnes of grapes per year. Now 59 years old, he is a typical Barossa Valley winemaker of German stock, as so many are. The wine, at 13% alcohol, was well structured with nicely mixed oakiness and varietal spice on both the nose and palate.

7 1985 Zinfandel, Calera (USA) £5.95 There is some discussion as to whether this grape is a native American variety or is a variant on the Primitivo of southern Italy. This was another wine which divided the company. The colour was medium dark, the style of this 12.9% wine being a touch tarry and Italianate. The general verdict was "rather uninspiring". Some of us who tasted the wine later, after it had breathed in the bottle, found it greatly improved and indeed quite succulent!.

8 1985 Pinot Noir, The Edna Valley Vineyard (USA) £9.50 A 13% alcohol wine matured in French oak, from a vineyard in southern California. A hint of volatile acidity on the nose but was, nevertheless, a beautiful, farmyardy Pinot classic nose to match the pale Pinot colour and the delicious Pinot flavour. Even at £9.50 it represented a fair value-for-money stand-in for a red Burgundy. This observation, though true, only makes me rather glad that I never got addicted to that particular grape.

All in all, this proved to be a delightful tasting, knowledgeably and entertainingly presented by our guest speaker. Thank you NEC

Alan Kimber.

Richard Brooksbank gave a sincere vote of thanks to Stephen Webb.

* We can give a vote of thanks to Alan for presenting us with such a comprehensive record of the Tasting. Once again I can say that another Tasting at West Brom was a huge success and will rank with the many that we have been so fortunate to have had, especially during the past few years. Hungerford Wine Company was chosen by John Gorton (NEC) and was his 2nd w/e "baby". Ed *

* Following the splendid Tutored Wine Tasting and then a superb Buffet Lunch we were well fortified to approach the 1539 AGM...*

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 198 9Moat House Hotel West Bromwich 1.4 5pm 18th November

A general report.

Chairman Doug Hodkinson asked the meeting to stand in silence in memory of our three colleagues who had passed away in the year from the 1988 AGM.

Frank Rayner Ted Adcock Gordon McWilliam

1 PRESIDENT Audrey Newton addressed the meeting with a review of the past year. She fe.lt that the News Letter was now a great success. There is a "Wind of change" throughout all aspects of the Guild, for instance - "who would have forecast that the NEC would be meeting in a Golf Club in Leicestershire?" or that we might be changing our AGM and Conference week-end venue to Scarborough next year?". We now have the new Examination system in full swing and working successfully. We are losing a valued and long serving member of the NEC with Ivor Morgan retiring from the scene. Ivor had carried out very many roles on behalf of the Guild, starting way back in 1965!. We might yet consult him!.We wish Ivor all the best with our many thanks. We are very fortunate to have Doug Hodkinson as our Chairman who is doing a very good job for the Guild.

Audrey said she had enjoyed her Term of Office as Guild President for the past two years and thanked everybody for that opportunity

2 APOLOGIES There were 28 written apologies for absence, plus a further 2 0 through the Treasurer, there were then a further 3 apologies from the members present, making 51 in all.

3 The MINUTES of the 198S AGM were accepted as a true record.

4 There were no matters arising.

5 The CHAIRMAN'S circulated report was accepted.6 The TREASURER produced his balance sheet for 1988/89. John Reeve reminded the members of the proposal to change the Financial year to commence August 1st each year. Whilst the News Letter was costing more now this could be off-set with the reduced number of Committee meetings per year plus the effect of a reduction in the number of appointed Committee members.There should be no change in the subscription rate this year.The meeting fully accepted the Treasurer's report

7 PROPOSITIONS:- "The Executive Committee shall consist of a maximum of 14 (fourteen) members" was put to the meeting. Ray Palfrey proposed, Brian Gent seconded, that the proposal be ammended to "The Executive Committee shall consist of up to a maximum of 14 (fourteen) members". The amendment was carried. >

fcropositlpr.s) continued

"The Financial Year shall be the period commencing the 1st of August and ending the 31st July each year". This was carried unanimously. (NOTE:- The NEC can now examine the Treasurer's report at a NEC meeting before the AGM each year)

A letter from Roy Ekins was read out proposing that IVOR MORGAN be elected to a LIFE MEMBER. This was seconded by Judith Irwin and carried unanimously.

VIC GOFFEN was proposed to the office of PRESIDENT of the NATIONAL GUILD of WINE and BEER JUDGES. This was carried unanimously (Vic managed to salute the retiring President Audrey Newton with a parting kiss as he received his insignia)

ELECTION of the NEC. It was proposed that the entire NEC be re-elected 'en bloc' and this was carried unanimously.

9 AOB.

Don Hawkins proposed that the publishing of the new Handbook be delayed by one year in order to sell off the stock of old Guild Handbooks first. This was not accepted

A proposal was made that the old stock be scrapped as soon as the new Handbook was available. This was carried.

It was agreed that the NEC continue to explore the Guild's possible association with the Scottish Guild of Judges.

Scarborough as the venue for the 1990 Guild Conference and AGM week-end was discussed. Discussion revealed that a member travelling from Taunton travelled 150 miles each way to West Brom and that Scarborough would put the distance much further. It was pointed out that a member travelling from the North East travelled 230 miles each way to West Brom, the Scarborough venue would reduce and redress this situation. The mandate for the NEC to continue to seek a suitable venue was confirmed. The News Letter would publish necessary criteria of our Conference and Hotel requirements in order to invite and encourage our full membership to do more to assist the NEC in seeking a satisfactory new venue for the future with improved attendances.

Judith Irwin pointed out that only one fifth of the entire membership was present and voting at this AGM. We should try to advise our membership of important measures in advance, and conduct a postal vote if necessary.

The CHAIRMAN then closed the meeting.

(- in time for a much needed cup of tea!.)(RVP)

Meanwhile - the NEC proceeded to hold a meeting elsewhere.

M0RE>

* Following on from the AGM on Saturday afternoon we had the haunting subject of "Drinking and Driving" in the form of a Ta_k and a Demonstration of Equipment.

Presented by Brian Gent, who is both a colleague and a Senior Police Officer, the subject became fascinating, educational and at the same time most enjoyable, indeed humorous 1. Brian has kindly sent me some script and graphs for this JNL issue.... Ed*

Dear Ray

At West Brom I sought to underline the principals that - Yes, we are safe to judge and then drive, although a safe period afterthe_last tasting would be about an hour. In practise, that hourlapse of time could be accommodated by our normal system of-----cleaning the show-bench / completing the paperwork / commenting to competitors on their exhibits / de-icing the windscreen / saying our farewells to all and sundry-----before driving off! .

BUT NOT... IF WE CHEAT with the Judge's perk of blending all the pnzewinning wines from your bench and supping that off! .What are the ris.<s involved in a judging engagement?

Well, it is unlikely that more than a minimum alcohol absorption will take place just by sniffing - sipping - and spitting, (this includes up to 25 fortified wines!) followed by the one hour "burn-up" time elapsing before taking the Test - (or driving)

Projecting this example into Table wines - the limit number of such wines - in accordance with the Judges Handbook, 1982 edition can be dealt with without a problem of alcohol absorption. However, this does not include the "dribble of wine" down the throat as a technique of "finalising" and if this takes place either accidentally or deliberately then the Judge must pay heed to the consequent change of alcohol/breath levels.

What then are the conditions attached to drinking and driving?.

Well the commonsense rule must inevitably remain as DON'T.

What can we drink when we choose to ignore the rule?

Well, as the late evening session at West Brom showed, a lot depends on the many variables in order to use an accurate guide.

Who knows what a certain Welsh Judge had been doing in order to burn-up his minimum of 2 sherries and 2 bottles of Claret (Home­made of course!) and a few other sundry items. His Hotel bill on Sunday showed that he had not been watching that TV channel!!

Other less active members returned alcohol levels of up to 62 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath!

Most members used both the Draegar Alert Roadside Screening Device -(the orange box with the pretty lights that is reckoned to be nearly "copper proof" - but failed during a high-speed chase when the "orange-box" had been left on MORE>

the rcof-tcp cf a pursuing police car!) - the other device was the Lion Intoximeter Substantive Analysing Equipment.I would thank all those good souls who helped to make the testing session of value by recording their alcohol consumption on the supplied charts, although I feel that the accuracy diminished with the amount imbibed!.

I am including four charts to explain some of the points I was trying to make - no copyright - so use them as you wish.

Thanks again to you and all who made our week-end so enjoyable. Good supping and my compliments of the forthcoming season.

Brian Gent Humberside* Brilliant stuff,I was very impressed. It is still a worrying subject - especially when there are so many variables - body weight - health - male or female - mental condition, such as depressed, excited, happy, angry etc. - the company one is with.

Thanks to you for a very frank presentation and again for the generous notes and all the charts you have kindly supplied... Ed *

RISK AND ALCOHOL LEVELS

%Those ler.st susceptible to alcohol

R IS K O F A C C ID EN " W IT H NO D R IN K

0 10 50 100 150 200iLO O D a LC O H O L C O i .C E 'J i R A T IO N — BAC (mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood)

0 10 20 ^ 50 70 803 R E A T H A L C O H O L C O N C E N T R A T IO N 3 rAC (u q cf a'cohol per 100 ml of breath)

IT.-

ALCOHOLIC CONTENT OF DIFFERENT DRINKS

Beer or cider — ordinary

- strong

4% ’/;

6% Vi pint —. 2S“ ’" t :7ml

Tabie wine i no/ r;lass - 1Zz"~ 1 2mi

Port, sherry, verm : j : u 20% glass - 5C-: ' 1m:

Spirits (whisky, gin. vodka etc) 40% glass - 25""' K-ni

Scottish measures of ; P:r t are 20 per cent cent greater.Measures in the home 3re frerjuentiy mere

Comparing N O R M A L measures, the follow

g-ester than E re sH ones:

generous " a n an c ; re se

ing are roughly equiva’ent.

■neasure ̂ • Northern Ire'and ; re 50 per

sen of these ecuais 1 U N IT

/giassof'.erry

■i 1 single / whisky

an 11-stone

a^ empty content of

=ak of : an hour

CALCULATION OF ALCOHOL LEVELSIt is not possible to forecast blood alcohol levels reliably on the basis of what has been drunk.

As a rough guide, ft man drinking one p-"t '2 ’units') qu ick !/ or stomach, the alcoho : n;s biood w ill rise tc a 20mn/1CQmi after acc it v.'i.i then reduce a: the rate of1 'un it' C/s pint bee' per hour. Another pint drunk quickly after2 hours will again increase die level. This is an idea ;sed picture as rates of absorption vary so much.The elim ination rate is more predictable at 1 'un it' per hour: so the only sure guide to being free of alcohol is to calculate the number of hours from the time of drinking on this basis. This may take several hours: someone who has had a heavy drinking session during the late evening may still be over the lim it when he goes to work at 7am the next morning.

1 PINT 1 PINTDRUNK DRUNK

/ N , / N

// HOURS

0 1 2 3 4

1 6 .

RELATION OF BREATH ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION (BrAC) TO STAGE OF ALCOHOL INFLUENCE

BrACpC-%

STAGE OF INFLUENCE SYMPTOMS

0 - 20 Sobriety No obvious effect but the subject may be more talkative and have a feeling of well being.

15 - 40 Euphoria Increased self-confidence and decreased inhibitions. Loss of attention, judgement and control by decrease in co-ordination and sensory perception.

40 - 70 Excitement Emotional instability and loss of initial judgement. Decreased perception and co-ordination (hence staggering gait). Increased reaction time, possible nausea and/or desire to lie down.

70 -

1I

120 Confusion Disorientation, mental confusion and dizziness. Exaggerated fear, anger and grief. Loss of perception of colour, form, motions and dimensions. Decreased pain sense.Impaired balance and slurred speech. Possibly coma.

110 - 160 Stupor Apathy, general inertia, approaching paralysis. Marked lack of response to stimuli. Inability to stand or walk. Vomiting, incontinence of urine and faeces. Coma, sleep or stupor.

150 - 200 Coma Coma and anaesthesia. Depressed or abolished reflexes. Hypothermia. Impaired circulation and respiration. Possible death.

190 * Death Death from respiratory paralysis.

-

CONFERENCE PINKER 1989

Hampshire WINEKent WINEKent WINEKent BEERLeicestershire WINES. Yorkshire WINE

The asser.bly for 7pm Sherry Reception was a most pleasurable chance to wander around, glass in hand, for a char here, a word there - and a top up now and then. (No worries about drinking and driving now, we were here to enjoy ourselves - and we did!)

Once we had arrived into the Banquet Suite and took our places CHAIRMAN DOUG HODKINSON crashed his Gavel at 7.30 to call us to stand and to raise our glasses in a ROYAL TOAST to "The QUEEN".As is usual we progressed through an excellent meal served by efficient Waitresses, some of whom have done this job for us for the last 10 years to my certain knowledge.

Following a "commercial break" the Chairman invited our PRESIDENT VIC GOFFEN to present Guild Certificates to those New Judges who had successfully passed the Examination this past year and who were attending this Conference Dinner.

BRUCE GRAHAM PAULINE JOINER JOHN JOINER

* ERIC TAPPENDEN Kent BEER * (Already a WINE JUDGE)PAULINE PEARCE KEITH HESKETH

There can be no doubt that to receive your Certificate here, from the hands of the President, in such an atmosphere and before so many supporting colleagues is befitting for all the work that a successful Candidate has undergone to achieve this honour.

Chairman Doug Hodkinson then invited RAY PALFREY, as Editor of the Guild News Letter to announce the name of the recipient of the

MAURICE MATTHEWS ROSE BOWL TROPHYRay thanked so many of the Guild membership for producing many quite excellent articles and material during the past year, which certainly helped to make the Guild News Letter a joy to produce. It was important for the Guild that this flow continues.

It was fitting to recall them now - Anne Parrack, Jan Mitchell, Gladys & Joe Blacklock, Judy Barratt, Mavis Grover, Phil Hardy, Alan Briggs, Paul Dunseath, Stan Scantlebury, Adrian Humphries, Peter Coombs, Arthur Cottenham, Philip Dransfield, Percy Mellor, Ken Bilham, Vic Goffen, Stan Finch, Rosina Clark MBE, Roy Ekins, Chris Tyrie, (and forgotten at that time - Doug Hodkinson - who gave me quite a nudge later on, any other omissions can also have the same privilege!).

There are others, such as Anne Mills, who regularly sends me excellent minutes of a model Regional group. Then there are Eric Clarke, Bernard Lamb, John Holgate, Bill Smith, Alan Kimber and Bob Marsdon and all belonging to the same Regional Group of National Judges - "NORTH THAMES" - I nominated ALAN KIMBER to accept the trophy on their behalf, with my congratulations.

PRESIDENT VIC GOFFEN. holder of the TROPHY, made the presentation to a surprised and delighted Alan Kimber for "NORTH THAMES".MORE>

ALAN KIMBER of MIDDLESEX most ably proposed the next ^oas^ asavav" Fr v 'd remembered those members*who had so sadlj passedsr-od fnr- mSyner Ted Aacock a"d Gordon McWilliam, as weStood for the TOAST TO ABSENT FRIENDS.MIKE BEDWELL of HERTS then proposed a TOAST to the GUESTS.

STEVEN WEBB of HUNGERFORD WINE Co. suitably responded.

bvea°f" ^ w RSatr ef °f thS 3fter Dinner v e c h e s is the delivery This vear w a ^ n n V Guild" m giving the Toast "THE GUILD", in is year was no disappointment m BRUCE GRAHAM of HAMPSHIRE whn?he1? o S T atoe™ E C^ l S UC^ d,\nd,°ften ‘“ " U S ™ ? ™ tone TOAST to THE GUILD which had us on our feet and applauding. VIC GOFFEN, PRESIDENT made the response in a most able manner.

Following these formalities we were encouraged to purchase Rafalea"d his Merrr Maid“ s an/late? f a collection to show our especial thanks to the

suc-ess of on^°r - contributed so much to the comforts and success of our Conference Week-end.

^ a w fandit L n ° nVerSati2n WaS °nly in^rrupted to hear the Raffle “ w and then we were finally left to our own devices.

I know that some continued well into the small hours' then at various and many Hotel "addresses". then at

John Gorton, who organised the Friday even'ncr Beer Ta^-M™B a S »iSheS POin* out ihe »Iif

,ana 3 x 9 gallons of beers) FREE !.Neil Bain did have a favourite Charitw ,that Tasting were invited to “make a dLatLn^in^ppre^fation? ^

l ^ t u T o f T e s ^ l 1 bA ?iank6d that the c°n e c tion raisedJohn from Neil Bain, on b e h a l f ' t h e " ^H I L D R E ^ ^ NEE? ???' '°

c-ntact anYOne M k S 3 trip round the Brewery please^ntact Neil Bain, Springfield Brewery, Grimstone stre^t- Wolverhampton. WV10 OJR Telephone 0902 M 5 5 ? ' (RVP)

WINE RECIPES for the CONNOISSEUR by TED ADCOCKWinemaking at Hnmp

There are a number of the above wine recipe books awaiting sale.

£=r“ ho“ : 5HprtaCL £ p ^ e Cr - a8<5°-B̂ ?

ir.ornmg rreakfast ever so on with the annual OPEN FORUM.A general report:-

With DOUG HODKINSON as CHAIRMAN and HEDLEY JACKSON (Hon. Sec.} m attendance the meeting was opened on time. '

ROY BIRCH rose to ask whether the Guild could extend beyond the Award of a small Trophy that is made after each Sunday Assessment session to include something for those who had a "near miss"RAY PALFREY spoke on this subject to the effect that the Annual „iPe a Beer Assessment Session was NOT to compete for an Award.The name of the Game" was the opportunity to Judge together, e unique occasion where we can all meet and ensure that we were

operating on the same plane and that our palates were in unison, after all we are National Judges and had a clear duty and responsibility to maintain a high and uniform standard.Never the less, having had a previous word with Roy Birch, there was a case for ENCOURAGEMENT of members to attend the session AND .̂o enter quality Wines and Beers in order to conduct a meaningful and enjoyable Assessment Session. A "Printed Ribbon" could do

is. It was agreed that this would be looked into for NEXT YEAR

DON HAWKINS suggested that members might bring a Gallon of Wine m oruer that a__ tables could be judging the same wine.DOUG HODKINSON replied that he had had some thoughts on holding a type of Mini Exam based on the Guild Entry Exam, with Master sheets which members could compare against their own assessment.

ROY SPERRY suggested that as there was no spare time at the Conference W/E tne Guild might consider an extra event in the form of a Seminar in another part of the Calender, having expert Lecturers and Speakers from the Commercial world and from our own expertise. This met with general enthusiasm and could develop!.

JUDITH IRWIN said that she was horrified at the standard of DESSERT wines being awarded "WINE of the SHOW" and queried whether all Judges were looking for the same thing? The weakness might be that Judges were passed on White and Red Dry Table wines only. Judy asked if the "Three Bottle class" could be used in ^ u r e Examinations as this would cover the extra dimension. ERIC CLARKE replied that whilst this was a good idea it would mean an awful lot of extra bottles needing a van to transport them about. He also doubted if we could get a sufficient supply of suitable quality Dessert wines for that purpose, for example, the wines dona^ed^ by Candidates were often appalling and of no use for

Examination purposes. ANNE PARRACK added that we all needed more training. RAY PALFREY felt that by passing the Guild Entry Examination this should not mean that we were now experts, we had tt tinue improving our experience, knowledge and technique.U solution in our own hands in the first place, as we

should ensure that we were an active member of a Regional Group which should set up our own schemes to further our ability and echniques with regular tasting and judging sessions at every

meeting. ̂ It ought to be every Judge's own initiative to belongo a Regional Group of National Judges and become an active

participant. JOHN REEVE asked members present how often their otfn Groups met, as he felt there was a need to meet several times a year to keep in touch and maintain standards

MORE>

ANNE PARRACK asked wh®t^er^ ^ t5 o S 1ATechniqSe"erJontent in the include "Technical and Instruction . well be fortunateProgramme. RAY PALFREY ^ep-iedj: a w ■‘ the Bristol University's to include Dr. Tony Williams lormer y ^ business with his Long Ashton Research Station ̂ ̂ panel of 300 people.Sensory Research Labora'tory Qr two sessions NEXT YEAR,Dr. Williams has agreed to condu close to our role asgiving an in "depth talk” on the ^tters cio and TactileJudges - that of Sensory Judges. There would bepractical^nvolvement and demonstrations in his p r o g r a m .

VIC GOFFEN asked t h e % n ^ e r t h a t h i r w a s “ notp r a c t i c a l although they could h e purSignature would .a b. M ™ » r f =hlve the "Antique value" reflection on him) ma t„*_^easure as collectors : that some Judges seemed to -reasu.

items.tnau sujiie ----PHILLIP GRIFFITHS in J^ady Jhi^would be considered,supply of Pendant Baages for them. ins up p J- y w •*- ----BETTY KEELEY suggested that Jhe^onference^ommercial Tasting

^ p Sli°n"itUcou?d bee done but not for all of our Amateur Classes.j ■ f +-v,o rrnnosed 1990 venue for the Guild BRIAN GENT wondered if the pro uc£ costs t0 attract more

Annual conference and AGMvas t ^ ̂ retrograde step andmembers to attend.. if s ? the meeting that thec o u n t e r p r o d u c t i v e . J O M KEELEY informed t h e me. gBrooklands Hotel - S c ^ b o r o u g h ^ e l d ^ o n i y 9 2 ^ ^was appalled by that £*9“* • would only be attending as a

not for the real reason - of pleasure.

bill GRANT said there was some ^ ^ ^ / p ^ d a ^ y e t there was the Moat House for we v,ere h® h Hotei for this w e e k - e n dan advertisement freely ^ “ ^ ^ n c e ta?e. JOHS KEELEY felt at E 39.50 per day for “ *ur.JsC° ^ “ ? obtainable and there wasthat his n e g o t i a t e d p r i c e -as the nfl the E39.50 such as^ K g e T n d S . “« K^ i S ^ t S S S i ^ n S T r S f f S S l ^ - S S Spouses tc visit or tc have attraction or appeal uO them.

Do„ HAWKINS wanted I S T J ^ T = » S ECandidate which wa^considered^to be Private^informacion^^Therewas nothing wrong in a Candidate were nervous andTutor. Most Candidates f.alled„ ^ “ J d faults". It would be concentrating on looking for p . tically. Eric suggested that better to relax and progre:ss y a „Mock Exam." and t r a mall Tutors should consider s,etti g P e quicker

‘ t M i S S s * tSaL » i ^ .BILL GRANT proposed^. f v e r f s u c c e S f S i ™en joyabli^an^excel lent week-end Conference. All agreed. (EVP,

WINE ar.d BEER ASSESSMENT 1990

About 26 Wine and 10 Beer judges took a place at any of the tables set out with random choice bottles for assessment.

Those more interested in Beer soon got down to their stint, with 13 bottles of LIGHT LAGER.

Wine Judges were asked to pay particular attention to colour.Any comment or suggestion would be most welcome. Each table having elected a "scribe" to record agreed comments and one to participate in the Finalising, soon got to work on the 29 bottles of WHITE/GOLDEN/TAWNY Dessert wine.

Each wine table could select their best wine (or two, if good!)

The wines had the full range of colours admissable with none being criticised. In discussion, the groups agreed that in general most of these wines would have been rejected on colour had the class been restricted to "White or Golden" for being Brown and too dark, but the inclusion of the term "Tawny" made all the difference. A fuller write-up on Colour, based on the comments gathered, is given elsewhere in this issue.

BEER Session.

4 entries of Light Lager earned praise, whilst 9 had adverse comments ranging frcm - Short finish - Sulphur nose - Unclean - Excessive bitterness - Excessive hops - Stale - Floaters - Malty Peardrops - Too full - Too dark - Heavy - Not a Lager.The C-COD COMMENTS were - Clean - Pleasant - Well hopped - Crisp and fresh - Well balanced - Delicate nose. (There was one little critiscm [from on high] of the critics - that one entry was apparently faulted for "Low gravity" - "What did they expect in a Light Lager class"?).

Stan Muir was 2nd - Phil Siddall & Gerrv Sparrow mentioned in despatches - with DOUG HODKINSON placed FIRST.

DESSERT wine Session.

6 entries earned high praise, 10 gained acceptable status.A further 13 entries were not of a good standard, with comments such as - Only a Social - Not a Dessert - Only a Sweet wine - Thin, lacks body - Not married, unhomogenised - Unbalanced - Hot Sugar obvious - All alcohol and glycerine - Unripe fruit - Haze - Peardrops - Yeast autolysis - Oxidised - Mouse (a planted bottle)

The GOOD comments were - Smooth - Clean - Intense - Mature - Full Good balance - Superb nose - Excellent flavour - Pleasant finish Complex - Pleasantly maderised - Long farewell - Good weight.

Finalised entries from - Vera Durkin - Brian Gent - Eric Clarke Richard Brooksbank - Alan Kimber - Bob Marsdon - Ray Palfrey.The final places were - 3rd Ray Palfrey, 2nd Brian Gent and

FIRST place - ERIC CLARKE.

The BEER section chose DRY STOUT as the class for 1990The WINE section chose DRY RED TABLE WINE for 1990 RVP

22.

* Sunday Buffet Lunch - all was nearly over for yet another year.

Again the Lunches really are superb meals - ^earned "Pyears ago as the result of the Open Forum then and acclaimed e;ersince - so have courage whenever you have an idea..CHAIRMAN Doug Hodkinson kindly allowed us to plod our way through the Starter - Main dish - Sweet (and Biscuit & cheese if you were cheeky) and just savouring the Coffee, when it was time to make the final announcements before we went on our way.

Ray Palfrey - who had once again orchestrated the Wine a n d Beer Assessment - was asked to announce the results of the morni g -'Competition'-. Until then no-one knew - but the fact that Doug had vowed that "if his beer had won he would sack all those Beer Judges" put me iJ a spot for LIGHT LAGER - FIRST -DOUG HODKINSON (Ahem11) This was loudly cheered as he received his Trop Following this was the turn of DESSERT WHITE or GOLDEK or TAWKY- FIRST - ERIC CLARKE and it was another Trophy well deserve ."Best wishes for a safe journey home" and it was all over. Ed.*

* Dare I offer this as a teaser to cogitate over during those dull moments in between the Turkey and the mince pies - or between the first pint and the second?Professor Brainbugger recently purchased a 13 litre container of wine. (Are you still interested?)

He filled a jug from the wine container and - (silly chap) promptly poured the jugfull of wine away.He then filled the jug with water and emptied this into the wine Container. (We are not told why he carried out this procedure.)

Not content with doing this once the Professor repeated the exercise - he again filled the jug with wine - poured it away - filled the jug with water and poured the jugfull into the wine container.The contents of the wine container was fully mixed each time this strange operation was completed.The contents were later analysed and it was found that EXACTLY 5 LITRES of WATER had been added!!.The problem is this - What was the capacity of the JUG - to the nearest millilitre???.(Oh yes - I can make it a little difficult - how many times did our mad Professor carry out this dastardly deed?.)

Should anybody solve this I can only offer my sympathies - plus a tasting of a very nice Mousey Tawny Dessert wine "a la West Brom" The second prize is TWO tastings of MTD - and so on. Why not - I had to suffer this "pleasure" of MTD during the Sunday morning wine assessment - courtesy "Dai from Cardiff" (Ed.)*

37.EXTRACT FROM THE "AWNGJ" NEWSLETTER of 15 years ago (8/1974)

"You can't please all the people all the time"..but Bryan Acton really tries:-

I have often felt that when judging a class of 60 bottles there is going to be 6 happy winners and 54 disappointed losers. A Judge is never a popular figure however much he may be respected.

Recently I have managed to improve on this ratio as I make a note of the numbers of my final selection - which might be 12 bottles,I then list the 'near misses' onto the judges report which is displayed by the class.

Now I have 12 reasonably satisfied people and only 48 losers!.

At the National there are 45 wine classes or subclasses. Multiply this by 6 and there are another possibly 270 competitors who will feel that they have had a fair crack of the whip even though they did not gain a prize.

If only Judges would list the 'near misses' on their report!!!!

What a lovely philosophy - and it is true you know. Was Bryan Acton the forerunner of the "White Collar" system??. Come on you Guys and Gals - follow this example wherever you can - it might help towards a revival of some graciousness - it's free.

Could be a useful message to think about at the NAWB ScarboroughRVP

EXTRACT FROM THE "AWNGJ" NEWSLETTER of 15 years ago (10/1974) THE WINE CHEAT

"Ted Adcock discovered a 'wine perfection' whilst judging at Hertford and every Judge in the vicinity of Ted was asked to sample - and all agreed that it was very good. BUT to Ted'ssurprise_and astonishment, when going to replace the bottle on theshow bench he found that only l/6th of the contents remained!."

Lovely - I've heard this story before - from Ted, excuse my smirkRVP.

WINE RECIPES for the CONNOISSEUR by TED ADCOCKWinemaking at Home

There are a number of the above wine recipe books awaiting sale.

Would any member please contact Joan Adcock at 50 Belvue Road, Northolt, Middlesex UB5 5HP, Telephone 01 - 845 - 6038.