How can a $4.75 bottle of wine win three medals?

We’re enjoying a wine that’s won three bronze medals and costs only $4.75. How is this possible? Are cheap wines judged against more expensive wines, or in price categories?
M.F., Southport, Qld

A: As you’ve discovered, it is possible to find very good and inexpensive everyday wines that have won medals at competitions. You mention the De Bortoli Sacred Hill Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2022. There are several varieties under the Sacred Hill label and they often punch well above their weight. Even a bronze-medal wine (scoring between 86 and 89 points out of 100) can be a very good drink and represents, at the price you paid, great value. In most competitions, wines are judged in varietal classes, irrespective of price. So a $4.75 wine will be judged against wines that are almost all dearer, often substantially so. That said, most semillon sauvignon blancs are no dearer than about $25-$30. Chardonnay prices can go much higher.

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A glance at the De Bortoli website reveals that many of the Sacred Hill wines have won not only a bag of bronzes but occasional silver medals. To win a silver, a wine has to score between 90 and 94 points out of 100 (gold is 95-plus). For example, the 2021 Sacred Hill Shiraz Cabernet won silvers at four shows in 2022: Cairns, Cowra, Riverina and Rutherglen. Most Australian wine competitions judge wines “blind”, meaning the judges are told only the vintage and grape variety. In other words, they can’t be influenced by knowing the price. This gives great credibility to the quality of wines that win multiple medals. Shows are a great leveller: when cheap bottles are rated higher than expensive ones, eyebrows are raised.