[themiddleupper]

This seems to have been a prank to prove the contest was asham But in much more "authentic" contest, what determines if a wine is better than another? Are they not just different taste and liking them or not is a person's subjective opinion, similar to food preference?

[andirk]

You, assuming you have no knowledge of wine, can absolutely tell the difference between truck stop $2.70 wine and a well made wine from a seasoned winemaker+vineyard+grapes+region. Yeah these awards are often hot air, but the claim that no one can tell the difference between well made wine and garbage wine is a joke. It's black and white, especially when you wake up the next day.

[dagw]

There are certain more 'objective' criteria used to judge wines. In fact one of the things you learn when learning to taste and judge wine is to try to separate what you like from judging if it is a well made wine.

A big one is complexity. Wines with a complex flavour profile (ie lots of different flavours) are generally judged as better than wines with a simple flavour profile. Another is length of finish. How long does a pleasant flavour linger in the mouth after swallowing. You can also judge how close the wine is to how a wine of that type is 'supposed' to taste, and how well the wine maker managed to achieve what they where trying to achieve. You might not particularly like Chianti, but you can still judge if the wine you are drinking is a really well made Chianti.

[friend_and_foe]

Its all a bunch of bullshit man.

[Daishiman]

This is cope from people who don't want to admit the world has depth that takes skill and expertise to explore.

[friend_and_foe]

The world does, booze is booze. Sure, it's different, but all the lore is just marketing.

[Daishiman]

And cars are cars and reading is just reading, right?