In search of wines with elusive X factor

Philip Rich (left) and Steve Smith sample a few reds at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards. Photo / Richard Robinson

Philip Rich will raise his glass up to 400 times this week as he turns his palate to the Air New Zealand Wine Awards in search of a vino with X-factor.

Rich is one of four international judges in a team of 21 experts judging the 1586 wines entered this year.

"You look for wines that have got varietal character, obviously they look like what they're supposed to look like depending on the variety," he said.

"For me it's all about balance ... . balanced fruit and balanced tannins, then to get really good wines you're looking for wines that have an extra ... they have a degree of complexity about them that elevates them above some of the other wines they're up against."

Judging finishes today in Auckland, by the end of which Rich may have tasted between 300-400 wines.

Rich is founder and partner of Prince Wine Store in South Melbourne and has been judging wine for about 15 years, mainly in Australia.

"You don't want all the judges with the exact same palate, so you want to have that variety and you want to put up wines that have diverse styles."

Twenty years ago the only people judging at wine shows were wine makers, Rich said.

"And wine shows in Australia were all connected to agricultural societies and judging wine was a little bit like judging cattle or sheep."

"It was all about improving the breed whereas now there's a real consumer focus obviously, wineries want to use these awards and medals to try and sell wine."

There was a broader diversity of judges now, including makers, writers, buyers and sommeliers, he said.

"You're not always going to agree but collectively the idea is that you work together to find good wines."

Judging all day is physically and mentally quite demanding, he said.

"One of the things about judging is giving something back to the industry and it's an honour to be invited to judge."

Chairman of judges Steve Smith said the red wine classes looked fantastic: "Which for New Zealand is a great thing because I think what we need to do as a country is to forge a reputation for more than just producing sauvignon blanc.

"We need to forge a reputation for producing high quality red wines and then you can cement a place as a fine-wine producer in the world and it's good insurance against the more commercial aspects of what our industry is and I think that's really important."

Medal winning wines will be announced next week, while awards at a gala dinner in Auckland on November 20 will include elite gold, trophies and the champion wine of the show.