Judging began on Tuesday morning at Panthers Bathurst, with over 800 entries, with each entry containing four wines each, set to be critiqued.

And for the judges, gone are the old days of using pen and paper. 

This year’s organisers made things much easier for judges, with scores being recorded thanks to the help of technology.

Show committee member Michelle Kerr said the event is the largest cool climate wine show in Australia and the largest wine show in rural NSW. 

“We’ve received entries from all across Australia, except from the Northern Territory and Queensland,” she said.

“We’ve also had some great local wines enter, to show they can compete with Australia’s top, benchmark wines.”

She said most of the wine’s taste actually comes from the sense of smell.

“Seventy per cent of what you taste actually comes from the sense of smell,” she said.

“Only about 30 per cent comes from your taste palate.” 

Colour, smell and taste are all taken into consideration by judges, who had to critique roughly 130 entries on Tuesday.