Wine Tasting Discussion

[joekelly]

Regarding the wine, you may consider this

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tasting-junk-science-analysis

and then we can talk again.

[MS256]

Okay. ??? "Speaking of horses. Did you ever see any of those Lipizzaner stallions?"

[boogielicious]

Regarding the wine, you may consider this

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tasting-junk-science-analysis

and then we can talk again.

The tough part about rating wines is everyone has different preference for what they like.  I don't doubt that expert tasters can sense the different elements they are looking for in a wine, but what they consider better may be different than me.  Add to that some expert ratings are based on having wine with a meal.  Some wines are better with meals than just quaffing.

I have a qualified nose for evaluating products at my company.  I have been tested to be able to determine if odors are off and have been doing this for 25 years.  But that doesn't mean I know what fragrance you will like the best.  I know what I like the best.  The same goes with wine.

Lastly, price should not be a consideration on the quality of a wine.  Some will charge what they think they can get.  A $39 bottle of Cakebread Chardonnay may be no better to you than a $12 of Clos du Bois.  But, Cakebread can get $39, so that is what retail charges.

I like wine and have read a few books on the subject.  I like to try different wines and grapes to experiment too.  I have even made a Pinot Noir in my basement that was decent.  Experimenting can be fun, but I also know which ones I go back to because they taste the best to me.

[joekelly]

You are so right, boogielicious.  We like what we know and know what we like.  Any reasonable person would also say that the earlier in life we learn to like something, like taste, the more strongly this opinion is held.  When i was boy in a house with 5 younger sibs my granny told me to suck on the rubber nipple, to get it wet, then dunk it into the sugar bowl, then stick that into my bro/sisters mouth. Do we all 7 sibs like sweet foods now?  Certainly.  Yet my current girl friend (Asian) has no taste for chocolates, that i adore. Too Sweet, she says.

And if you go to China/Asia you will learn that many of those folks prefer foods that an American would never, ever, taste.  Two items come to mind esp, stinky tofu and durian fruit.  God, both smell like vomit on a spoon, yet folks pay good money to gobble them up.

All i'm trying to say is that tastes are highly conditioned by our former experience and objectivity is hard to come by. When a boy i learned a Latin phrase 'de gustibus non est disputantum'. No disputing the tastes.

It's my belief that if a scientific study were made of golf balls where all labeling was removed prior to testing and some pros and ams hit those balls under controlled conditions, no one, not a pro nor an am, could tell brand X from brand Y. The pros may be able to tell 'rocks' from 'spinners' but not much else. Titleist pays huge sums to keep their name in our sight so we are highly conditioned to think Titleist = the best.  It's baloney, IMO.

Is the million dollar Stradavarius a 'better' violin than a top o' the line Yamaha?  If label is hidden, experts can't hear the difference.  Everyone wants to personally associate with betterment and through money power can make that proported association. It's the old belief, 'we get what we pay for'.

Off topic, but are making Pinot Noir from concentrate?  Massachusetts, to my knowledge, ain't great wine country but sometimes grapes from other areas are available.

best

[boogielicious]

Yes, from concentrate.  It was a gift from my neighbors for my birthday.

[Ernest Jones]

Yes, from concentrate.  It was a gift from my neighbors for my birthday.

I make TONS of wine from concentrate. It's a LOT different than it used to be quality wise. I make Pinot Noir, Chianti, Barolo and a few others. It's not "knock you socks off" good but it's decent table wine or "Plonk" as we say in French. The advantage is that I use that as my table wine for regular dinners and if I'm going out to someone else's house for dinner the savings I make allow me to drop a wad on a really great wine to bring.

[iacas]

Quote:

It was next shown that while some research indicates that wine experts display dismal, quite meaningless levels of agreement, there is also evidence to indicate that other judges have demonstrated quite adequate levels of agreement,; and ones that have replicated successfully. It is also possible and even likely, that groups of tasters share similar likes and dislikes of wines. For example, while the agreement level between JR and RP on both 2004 and 2009 Bordeaux wines is almost embarrassingly low, the agreement level between RP and James Suckling (JS) of the Wine Spectator wine staff, on the 2004 Bodeaux was respectable at .52, or 76%. Future research will be required to determine how broad are the implications of such a finding.

http://www.wine-economics.org/aawe/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Cicchetti_Dom.pdf

I once saw a video where people identified the year and region from which a wine came, pretty accurately, in a blind test. I don't care enough to find the video, just wanted to say I don't think ALL of wine tasting is junk.