When people ask me what it’s like to be a professional wine judge, I explain that the keys are to keep your palate fresh and have an optimistic view of the wines before you taste them.

Every wine has its qualities and attributes. Some are fruity, and others that are graceful and elegant. Some styles that are earthy, jammy or minerally. Others are  big, rich and bold. But when it comes down to it, the best wines stand out as having strong attributes in terms of color, flavor, texture, balance, structure, and admirable finish. Each wine receives medals based on the tallied scores of the judges on each team.

I bring this subject up because I’ll be judging a number of these unique wine competitions over the next two months, including the annual Thanksgiving Picks with Ziggy the Wine Gal (Nov 17); the Grand Harvest Awards (Nov 18-19); Holiday Picks with Ziggy and other pros (Dec 8); and the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (Jan 6-9).

So watch for my upcoming reviews of each of these competitions.  And in the meantime,  check out the amazing photo album from the North Coast Wine Challenge posted by my friend and fellow-wine judge, Wilfred Wong. Enjoy!

North Coast Wine Challenge Photo Album