Evaluating the value of replicate tastings of a given wine: bio-statistical considerations

Wine judges were randomly selected from the membership of the American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE) to participate in a blind triplicate tasting of two South African varietals: one Sauvignon Blanc and one Pinotage; as well as a blind tasting of a single pouring of five additional Sauvignon Blanc wines and five additional Pinotage wines. It was hypothesized that those wine Tasters who scored the triplicate wines reliably would also score the single poured wines reliably; and, conversely, those who were unreliable on the triplicate wines would also be unreliable on the additional five wines. The results were substantially confirmative for the Sauvignon varietals, but only minimally confirmative for the Pinotage varietals. Two possible reasons are, first, the simpler structure of Sauvignon Blanc (a white wine) and possible palate fatigue for the more complex Pinotage (a red wine).