And there you have it, many entries but nary one that picked the winner. Madness ensued throughout and the championship game was to be no exception as the Bodega Norton Malbec took the title home to Argentina. What better way to follow up madness than with sportsmanship. Daddy Winebucks has vacated the top position to leave yours truly the champion! Just kidding of course (though I would like some of that Waugh Cellars wine). @kpladson is the official winner of the first annual Grape Madness crown and will be awarded the fruits of her victory accordingly. Look forward to your spoils soon! To everyone else, thank you for participating! I hope you had as much fun as I did and maybe we will see you here again next year!
| Entry | Blog | Winner | Points |
| Eric Cohen | Daddy Winebucks | 62 | |
| Jason Rzutkiewicz | Jason’s Wine Blog | 52 | |
| Kristin Pladon | @kpladson | 42 | |
| R.J. Hilgers | RJ’s Wine Blog | 42 | |
| Robert Dwyer | Wellesley Wine Press | 40 | |
| Marc Goldsmith | Marc’s Muse | 36 | |
| Tracy Morgan | 36 | ||
| Ryan Waugh | Waugh Cellars | 34 | |
| Danny Gerkin | 32 | ||
| Erik More | 32 | ||
| Richard | The Passionate Foodie | 32 | |
| Mike Supple | Supple Wine | 28 | |
| Brendan Webb | Trader Joe’s Wines | 28 | |
| Joe Roberts | 1 Wine Dude | 26 | |
| Jeff Lanier | 26 | ||
| Matthew Wioncek | 18 |
Hey, Eric, aka Daddy Winebucks,
My problem never was with the blind tasting concept. Rather, especially for the early rounds, it was the lack of the number of people determining the scores through blind tasting. That’s my major beef. One person/one pallate is not enough to accurately score for a group and to compensate for differences in everyone’s tastes (unless you’re Jim Jones pushing a very tasty version of Kool-Ade”). A minimum of three tasters should be used for a “contest” like this. If more are desired, then do it with an increasing odd number of people, i.e. 5,7,9–in order to break ties. For example, this event’s finale had four people tasting blind for each of two wines. If Jason, had been the sole taster, Chateau Chevalier would have been this year’s winner. However, for Norton to emerge victorios, as it did instead, it took 2 solid wins from the guys in SoCal, and less-of-a-loss judgement from one of the two norcal judging guys. Quod Erat Demonstrandum. Next year, maybe each wine will be tasted with a min of 3 judges. Got to go, now. I’m late for my statistics class.
Danny, I thought we did well first year out of the gate. Perfection? Hardly. Good food for thought going into next year? Absolutely. I think we all appreciate your semi-witty commentary and actual good insight for next year. But statistics? I didn’t know they taught that in 8th grade…Cheers!
Eric,
It is better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth, Wine Boy, and remove all doubt. Cheers back at you!
Some suggestions for GM 2010:
1) All judges must taste from the same bottle of wine at the same location
2) All judges are barred from participating in the GM Tournmanent
3) Each person who officially selects a wine for the GM Tournament is barred from participating in the GM Tournament.
4) Tastings for rounds 1-3 shall be conducted by a minimum of 3 judges.
5) Tastings for Rounds 4 and 5 shall be conducted by a minimum of 5 judges
6) All wines selected for Tournament play shall be posted 30 days prior to the Tournament’s scheduled starting day.
GM Founding Fathers, you may not be aware of why I’m proposing these rules. To put it simply, it’s to avoid conflicts of interest and to prevent too much power in the hands of any one person (which should provide more levelness to the proverbial playing field)
So, I’m looking forward to 1,000 entrants next year. Will you be ready for that, Mr. Scorekeeper Jason? Cheers to all and congratulations to Kristin
@Kristin Sorry for the delayed congratulations, I was literally packing my bags as you won the crown… I owe you some wine and will send an email your way!
@Danny thanks for the suggestions. Should 2010 move forward they will surely be taken into consideration