Behind the scenes at the judging
In past years, I have volunteered at the cheese competition* at The Big E (Eastern States Exposition), but this was the first time I volunteered at the wine and cider competitions which were held at the same time. It was a totally different experience and every bit as fascinating. How is it possible for the judges to know as much as they do?!!
The judges spent the entire day sampling and filling out score sheets for glass after glass. It’s a big responsibility, partly because the wine and cider makers receive a copy of their score sheets and will, presumably, be influenced by their remarks. This is similar to sensory analysis in the cheese competition.
The score sheets for the cider were much more complicated than the ones for the wine, so the judges were given more time for each glass. There were 219 wines and 55 ciders.
The wine judges came from all around the country. Their bios are listed on the Big E website – click here. The cider judges (click here) were all local, except for Emily Kovach from Pennsylvania (more about her below).
Wine judges in action
8am
When we first arrived, the tables were set up.
Our team
Elena Hovagimian, Agriculture & Technology Manager (in the pink shirt) called us together in the office where we met the rest of the volunteers.
Cindi Jacques – scorekeeper
Andy Gilbert – head bottle washer
Bonnie Burr – head steward
Alicia Audet – coordinator. Showing us the paperwork for each “flight” (a flight is a grouping of glasses).
Marianne McCauley – timekeeper
The Stewards
6 of the volunteers were “stewards” which meant we would each be taking care of a table of judges.
Betsy Booth – steward at large
Sharon Doughty
Gail Turnberg
Catherine Gensler
Carol Ramponi and Marianne McCauley
Barbra Hahn
There were 4 tables for the wine judges and 2 for the cider judges. I was assigned to one of the cider tables.
Curtiss Sherrer, Charlie Olchowski and Emily Kovach
My job was to keep the table stocked with water, spit cups, palette cleansers and pencils. And, to bring out the glasses for judging.
It was a pleasant surprise to discover that a good friend of one of my brothers, Charlie Olchowski was the head judge at my table.
Not his best picture…(sorry, Charlie)
I was able to chat a bit with the judges at my table. Emily Kovach (at left in the picture below) is the editor of Cider Culture, an online magazine. She and her husband and young daughter brought their camper from Pennsylvania and spent a couple of days enjoying the local sites while they were here.
Emily at left
Curt Sherrer will be opening a new cidery in Turners Falls, MA this summer – “Wild Child Cellars” with his partner, April Woodard. April was judging ciders at the other table.
As time went by…
All day, we brought out carts of glasses for the judges,
while the dish washers kept up in the kitchen,
Andy with his assistant, Peg Valley
and the judges labored at their work.
Cider judges, Ria Windcaller and Mark Gryska
In the midst of itall , we had a break for lunch.
The final judging
When all the scores were in, we brought out the semi-finalists and the judges sampled them again. Ria Windcaller taped the comments by the judges at the cider tables for her podcast- Cider Chat.
At the end of the day, we had a delightful supper and went back to the real world.
April Woodard
If you think you might be interested in volunteering at the wine or cheese competitions, contact Elena Hovagimian at ehovagimian@thebige.com
*Articles about the New England Regional Cheese Competition at The Big E: 2017, 2016, 2014, and 2013
