I’m constantly telling people that judging wine is difficult but, let me tell you, they’re not buying what I’m selling. No wine lover I’ve met can conceive of the notion that spending all day in a room full of wine is tough. Assessing, however, is quite different to drinking. Focus and concentration is required to evaluate wine. To ascertain if a wine is flawed, if it is typical of its varietal and to define its quality, is hard work. It’s challenging enough if you have a lineup of the same type of wine, so imagine if all the wines are different. Your brain needs to change gear after each glass, recalibrating and recalling knowledge. This ‘other whites’ category throws up that very challenge, but we are fortunate at Cuisine to have a head judge who sees this as an exciting opportunity – a chance to remind readers of the endless possibilities that glorious vitus vinifera gives and just how vast the world of wine really is.