Nine out of 10 wine 'experts' fail to spot the same bottle being served multiple times

(DailyMail) - With their snooty mannerisms and pompous long-winded descriptions, wine snobs have long been regarded as tedious, insufferable bores.

And now what many have suspected all along has finally been confirmed; most of them are faking it too.

A U.S. study, which used judges at the California state fair wine competition as test subjects, found that only 10 per cent of them realised when they were served the same wine again and again. 

The judges, who consisted of sommeliers, critics and buyers to wine consultants and winemakers, were given their usual selection of vintages to taste, but some of the wines were served three times, being poured from the same bottle each time.

It revealed that even the most highly-respected wine tasters are next to useless when it comes to actually making any sort of reliable judgement about the relative merits. 

Mr Hodgson, who runs the Fieldbrook Winery in Humboldt County, told the Observer: 'The results are disturbing,' says Hodgson from the , described by its owner as a rural paradise.

'Only about 10 per cent of judges are consistent and those judges who were consistent one year were ordinary the next year.

'Chance has a great deal to do with the awards that wines win.'

The judges were asked to rate wines on a scale running from 50 to 100. On avergae a judge's score for the same bottle of wine varied by aropund eigght points over the three separate tastings.