Ask the expert: Do gold medals really mean a French wine is good?
When picking a wine, you might be swayed by the gold medal proudly displayed on the bottle - but do these awards really mean anything? We asked French wine expert Caroline Conner.
If you walk into a supermarket, vineyard or wine cave in France, particularly during a Foire aux Vins (seasonal wine sale), then you may notice some bottles have a sticker signifying that the bottle won a gold, silver or bronze medal.
READ MORE: Foire aux vins: How to find bargains on high quality wine in France
According to Franceinfo, over 24,000 of these 'medals' were awarded to French wines in 2022.
Hear Caroline's tips for picking a good wine in the latest episode of the Talking France podcast - download here or listen on the link below
So with so many awarded, are the medal-winning wines really better than any others?
The Local spoke with wine expert Caroline Conner, who has worked in the industry for 15 years and runs wine tastings and teaching sessions in Lyon, to find out whether consumers should pay attention to these medals.
The medals come from les concours, or wine competitions that are held throughout France - some are at a local or regional level, while others might be themed (for example: a concours judging boxed wine).
Caroline herself has taken part in many of these competitions as a judge. She explained: "Basically a winery will pay to participate in the competition.
"They send their bottles, and then the bottles are made to be 'blind'. So, they're put in socks or they’ve been decanted so you cannot see the label. You then start to taste them as a group," she explained.
While the process might vary based on the competition, Caroline said that most of the time there are four judges.
When it comes to getting a final score, which will determine whether the wine wins a medal, there are a few ways to do it.
"You might taste the wines individually and then collate all of your scores to decide on a final score. Sometimes the entire table has to agree on what the final score," she said.
So does a medal guarantee quality?
"I would not say that it guarantees quality by any means (...) all the medal really means is that 'a group of people judged this wine to be superior to its peers'," said Caroline.
"I have had a lot of really bad wine at these things - that I judged poorly - and then a couple of gems (...) Basically, in a lineup, this wine was better than the other eight or so wines we tasted in the same category.
"The reality is that most producers won't submit their wines to these competitions. So if a wine doesn't have a medal, that doesn't mean anything.
"Most wines will not go into these competitions because in order to take part, you have to spend money on it. It's really only appropriate for the kinds of wines that are going to be at the supermarket - those that are focused on the price competition. That's why you won't see fine wines at these competitions," she explained.
As for the Grand Cru and other wines with established reputations, Caroline said that "they don't need a medal to stand out from the crowd.
"The medal label is not something you'll see on more expensive wines. I'd say anything above €20 is probably unlikely to have one of these medals."
When it comes to getting quality wine, Caroline recommended that consumers take a trip to the caviste instead of the supermarket.
"That's not because the supermarket doesn't have good wine - it does - but there's no one who can help you in the supermarket. A caviste will be able to help you because you can talk to a human.
"They will learn your tastes and be able to recommend things for you. Just because they sell expensive wine does not mean that's all they sell. Even the fanciest wine merchants will have good value wines as well," Caroline said.
How many wines get medals?
As for medal allocation and distribution, this also depends on the competition - though there are some rules in place thanks to the French government.
In order to counter fraud, France passed legislation in 2013 requiring that authorised competitions should not allow for "distinctions to be awarded in more than a third of the samples presented."
This means that if a competition has a jury taste 100 wines in one category, then a maximum of 33 bottles could get medals.
FranceInfo found that several wine competitions operate using the maximum - the Effervescents du monde competition (judging sparkling wine) awarded medals to 32.8 percent of its 2022 samples, while the Val de Loire wine competition awarded 233 medals to the 725 wines tasted.
Who gets to judge the wine?
Another reason the presence of a medal may not be a reliable indicator of quality has to do with the people doing the testing.
"It's a mix of professionals and amateurs. Usually, [the amateurs] are required to do some sort of short course in wine analysis and tasting beforehand, so they can show some level of experience," Caroline added.
As for the process for tasting, upon arriving the judge would be assigned to a category.
"Last time, I was assigned to Alsatian Rieslings. One year, I had grand cru Champagne. When I was doing a boxed wine competition, my category was Eastern Europe, and I got to try things like Romanian Sauvignon Blanc.
"You're tasting a bunch of wines that are all very similar, which is very helpful from a quality assessment standpoint," she explained.
Caroline highlighted one great benefit to the fact that amateurs are allowed to participate: anyone can sign up.
"If you are interested in wine, you should sign up for the concours," she said.
"It’s really fun, even if you do not have great wine. You might be tasting garbage wine all morning, but it’s a great way to practise your French.
"You just go online and sign up, they'll tell you if you need to do a little tasting class beforehand.
"Do an internet search on 'concours vin' with your region and you'll find something."
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If you walk into a supermarket, vineyard or wine cave in France, particularly during a Foire aux Vins (seasonal wine sale), then you may notice some bottles have a sticker signifying that the bottle won a gold, silver or bronze medal.
READ MORE: Foire aux vins: How to find bargains on high quality wine in France
According to Franceinfo, over 24,000 of these 'medals' were awarded to French wines in 2022.
Hear Caroline's tips for picking a good wine in the latest episode of the Talking France podcast - download here or listen on the link below
So with so many awarded, are the medal-winning wines really better than any others?
The Local spoke with wine expert Caroline Conner, who has worked in the industry for 15 years and runs wine tastings and teaching sessions in Lyon, to find out whether consumers should pay attention to these medals.
The medals come from les concours, or wine competitions that are held throughout France - some are at a local or regional level, while others might be themed (for example: a concours judging boxed wine).
Caroline herself has taken part in many of these competitions as a judge. She explained: "Basically a winery will pay to participate in the competition.
"They send their bottles, and then the bottles are made to be 'blind'. So, they're put in socks or they’ve been decanted so you cannot see the label. You then start to taste them as a group," she explained.
While the process might vary based on the competition, Caroline said that most of the time there are four judges.
When it comes to getting a final score, which will determine whether the wine wins a medal, there are a few ways to do it.
"You might taste the wines individually and then collate all of your scores to decide on a final score. Sometimes the entire table has to agree on what the final score," she said.
So does a medal guarantee quality?
"I would not say that it guarantees quality by any means (...) all the medal really means is that 'a group of people judged this wine to be superior to its peers'," said Caroline.
"I have had a lot of really bad wine at these things - that I judged poorly - and then a couple of gems (...) Basically, in a lineup, this wine was better than the other eight or so wines we tasted in the same category.
"The reality is that most producers won't submit their wines to these competitions. So if a wine doesn't have a medal, that doesn't mean anything.
"Most wines will not go into these competitions because in order to take part, you have to spend money on it. It's really only appropriate for the kinds of wines that are going to be at the supermarket - those that are focused on the price competition. That's why you won't see fine wines at these competitions," she explained.
As for the Grand Cru and other wines with established reputations, Caroline said that "they don't need a medal to stand out from the crowd.
"The medal label is not something you'll see on more expensive wines. I'd say anything above €20 is probably unlikely to have one of these medals."
When it comes to getting quality wine, Caroline recommended that consumers take a trip to the caviste instead of the supermarket.
"That's not because the supermarket doesn't have good wine - it does - but there's no one who can help you in the supermarket. A caviste will be able to help you because you can talk to a human.
"They will learn your tastes and be able to recommend things for you. Just because they sell expensive wine does not mean that's all they sell. Even the fanciest wine merchants will have good value wines as well," Caroline said.
How many wines get medals?
As for medal allocation and distribution, this also depends on the competition - though there are some rules in place thanks to the French government.
In order to counter fraud, France passed legislation in 2013 requiring that authorised competitions should not allow for "distinctions to be awarded in more than a third of the samples presented."
This means that if a competition has a jury taste 100 wines in one category, then a maximum of 33 bottles could get medals.
FranceInfo found that several wine competitions operate using the maximum - the Effervescents du monde competition (judging sparkling wine) awarded medals to 32.8 percent of its 2022 samples, while the Val de Loire wine competition awarded 233 medals to the 725 wines tasted.
Who gets to judge the wine?
Another reason the presence of a medal may not be a reliable indicator of quality has to do with the people doing the testing.
"It's a mix of professionals and amateurs. Usually, [the amateurs] are required to do some sort of short course in wine analysis and tasting beforehand, so they can show some level of experience," Caroline added.
As for the process for tasting, upon arriving the judge would be assigned to a category.
"Last time, I was assigned to Alsatian Rieslings. One year, I had grand cru Champagne. When I was doing a boxed wine competition, my category was Eastern Europe, and I got to try things like Romanian Sauvignon Blanc.
"You're tasting a bunch of wines that are all very similar, which is very helpful from a quality assessment standpoint," she explained.
Caroline highlighted one great benefit to the fact that amateurs are allowed to participate: anyone can sign up.
"If you are interested in wine, you should sign up for the concours," she said.
"It’s really fun, even if you do not have great wine. You might be tasting garbage wine all morning, but it’s a great way to practise your French.
"You just go online and sign up, they'll tell you if you need to do a little tasting class beforehand.
"Do an internet search on 'concours vin' with your region and you'll find something."
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