National Wine Show judge John Payne retiring after nearly half a century

His first show was 1979 and ever since he's been an integral part of the backroom team, responsible for making sure the right wine gets put on the right numbered square for judging, among a myriad of other things.

He's retiring after this show - judging wraps up on June 9 before the winners are announced on June 16 - no doubt to enjoy his own wine collection which has grown over the years.

He says if he had to nab one bottle from among the 965 up for judging this year, it might be a nice pinot.

"But I think I did see three sparkling reds get put out and went through a whole box of tissues looking at them, crying, feeling a little nostalgic."

Payne, who worked as an IT consultant for many years, wanted to be a wine judge "back in the day".

"I didn't really enjoy drinking beer and I liked the complexities of wine," he said. He was good mates with the late Jim Murphy and they formed their own little tasting group with other like-minded wine drinkers.

When the Royal National Capital Agricultural Society jumped into help the local winemakers with their annual show, Payne, who was a member of the society, was asked to help the experts run the show.

Local wine legend Ken Helm taught Payne how to pour a proper tasting glass.

"You only pour about 40ml because the more wine there is, the more it affects how it smells and tastes, 80 per cent of what you taste comes from the nose."

The show began in 1975 and back then more than 2000 entries were common. In 2021 a rigorous qualifying standard was set and wines only became eligible if they had won gold or silver medals at one of the 32 qualifying state wine shows.

This year's chairman of judges, winemaker Jim Chatto, who stepped in at the last minute when David Bicknell caught COVID on Sunday night, said the judging team was excited by the prospects this year.

"We recognise that some winemakers have had some tough years," he said.

"But Australia is a big wine-producing country, so while things might have been tough here in the east, Western Australia and other parts might have had a good year."

In the backroom, there are two new reverse-osmosis glass cleaning machines which turn around 400 glasses an hour, sparkling clean and dry.

Has Payne ever seen any disasters? Dropped trays of glasses, mishaps with the wine?

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"Very rarely," he says. "But there was one year where a few volunteers probably weren't spitting as often as they should have been but we sorted them out pretty quick."

Is there a stewards' prize, like the Archibald Packers' Prize? "There used to be, many, many years ago. For a while there the stewards got to taste more wine than we do now, the judges would call us over and get us to taste something," Payne says.

"And for some reason, they always got me to taste the sparkling reds."

Key dates: Judging until June 8. Trophies awarded June 16. Gala presentation dinner June 16. Exhibitors tasting open to the public on June 17.

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