Dan Murphy's Wine Panel
A ‘love of wine’
Dan Murphy believed that it was a 'love of wine' and exposure to a wide diversity of Australian and International wine styles that made a competent Wine Judge. Involving our most experienced Fine Wine Managers in evaluating wine quality has always been an important part of the Dan Murphy's ethos. The Dan Murphy's Wine Panel meets almost weekly, assessing dozens of wines at any given session. Each wine is tasted and judged blind, without dialogue or collusion, in 'brackets' that typically consist of similar varietals or styles.
Once the Judges have finished a bracket they will then compile and compare scores. Generally the final result is found through consensus, however on occasions where a divergence of opinion is found, the Panel Chair discusses views and scores with the Panel and if required re-taste a wine to determine a final outcome.
Most of the Dan Murphy's Wine Panel sessions involve leading external wine industry professionals, including winemakers, wine distributors, sommeliers and wine writers, many of whom are also leading international Wine Show judges. This ensures that the highest standards are maintained and that the process acts as a mentoring program for our Fine Wine Managers. While most wine professionals recognise that there is no such thing as the 'perfect' wine assessment process, the Australian Wine Show system is seen by many commentators as the best of its kind in the world. Typically, wines that perform on our tasting bench also do well in the wider show circuit and receive the recognition of leading wine critics - including of course James Halliday - validating both the strength of those involved in our tastings and standards of our process. Formality aside, what all members of the Dan Murphy's Wine Panel share is a 'love of wine'. It's who we are. And it's a passion we love to share with our customers.Formality aside, all members of the Dan Murphy’s Wine Panel share a ‘love of wine’. It’s who we are.
Peter Nixon
Dan Murphy’s Wine Panel
The Dan Murphy’s wine assessment process
The Dan Murphy’s Wine Panel adopts many of the disciplines of the Australian wine show system, including:
- ‘masked’ assessment of wines
- review of wine in varietal or style categories
- a hierarchal system of judges, ensuring that our most experienced managers hold the most senior positions
In addition, we use a 100-point wine rating system - a system documented by Dan Murphy himself in A Guide to Wine Tasting published in 1977. This 100-point rating scale has become the rating system of choice for many of the world’s leading wine critics including James Halliday and Robert Parker Jr.
The 100-Point rating system
The 100-point rating scale has no agreed international standard and has as a result been interpreted somewhat differently by each wine writer or association who has adopted it. Here is our interpretation.
RatingsEquivalent MedalQuality
94 - 100GoldOutstanding
90 - 93SilverImpressive
84 - 89BronzeGood
80 - 83No medalSound
