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I can tell the difference between what I like and do not like.
I can tell the difference between white and red, but maybe just out of what I always drink.
I can tell the difference between grapes: No one will ever be able to tell me a Chardonnay is a Sauvignon Blanc or a Zinfandel is a Merlot. I can also tell young from old, acidity, oakiness, roundness, length of finish, etc. My ex was in wine sales and worked for a distributor for a while. (Odd, but I'm the one who got him into wine.)
I think the reasons many people can't tell is because they don't have the trained palate or don't drink much wine, and because a lot of expensive wine is grossly overpriced owing to cult status, a certain snobby reputation, or a bratty attitude from an inheriting son. (Anderson's Conn Valley, I'm looking at you.) Point being, price is no great indication of quality, unless you're going ultra cheap, in which case you run a greater risk of getting plonk. I'm a big fan of "cheap and cheerful," myself.
I can tell the difference between grapes: No one will ever be able to tell me a Chardonnay is a Sauvignon Blanc or a Zinfandel is a Merlot. I can also tell young from old, acidity, oakiness, roundness, length of finish, etc. My ex was in wine sales and worked for a distributor for a while. (Odd, but I'm the one who got him into wine.)
I think the reasons many people can't tell is because they don't have the trained palate or don't drink much wine, and because a lot of expensive wine is grossly overpriced owing to cult status, a certain snobby reputation, or a bratty attitude from an inheriting son. (Anderson's Conn Valley, I'm looking at you.) Point being, price is no great indication of quality, unless you're going ultra cheap, in which case you run a greater risk of getting plonk. I'm a big fan of "cheap and cheerful," myself.
I would agree with you, especially if the wine is a decent one: no, I might not be able to tell the difference between some box wines (the cheaper ones) but a decent one, I can tell. I might have trouble between telling a malbec from some other decent reds. I certainly know what a Chard taste like, compared to, as you said a Sau Blaanc and a white from a red.
While i agree with part of the conclusions of their study, i take issue with their methodology, specifically surveying the judges at the bogus California State Fair wine competition. All winos know that medals at state fair comps (especially the California Fair) are meaningless because not all the judges are professional sommeliers or wine critics.
And also it's due to the fact that judges have to slog thru enormous number of wines in a short period of time. Unless you're a pro taster, your palate quickly tires & shuts down after a couple dozen wines, quicker with high-tannin reds.
On a basic level, just imagine judging scores of chocolate chip cookies and having to decide which ones are the "best" based on one tiny morsel, with an additional proscription that you can't go back & re-taste for comparison! Even Chris Kimball would fail!
With affordable specific gravity, total acid& PH tests, oak chips the more or less universal tastes people agree on are rarely violated. its much harder to find truly bad wine.
I work the tasting bar at a winery. Our wines are all moderately priced (20-30 dollars) estate grown wines. We produce about 2K cases a year, small production. We grow and bottle Chard, Merlot, Syrah and Zin. We buy Sauv. Blanc, Gewurtz, Viognier from nearby vineyards to round out our wine list. I can tell you from years of experience that it doesn't matter whether you're talking about wine, whiskey, beer or popsicles; taste is all in the mouth. While there is a bit of a learning curve for wine noobs, especially learning to drink big dry reds, what you like is what you like and there shouldn't be anything wrong with that. The whole point system on wine judging is absurd. Who gives crap what some effete snob in California think about a particular wine?
I am not at all surprised at the results of the studies linked here. Years of bartending tell me the same thing. Whoever dissed the results of state fair competitions shouldn't have. In my opinion they're the only competitions remotely close, from a business sense, to fair. Most wineries produce wines to be consumed by PEOPLE, not tweedy snobs.
I work the tasting bar at a winery. Our wines are all moderately priced (20-30 dollars) estate grown wines. We produce about 2K cases a year, small production. We grow and bottle Chard, Merlot, Syrah and Zin. We buy Sauv. Blanc, Gewurtz, Viognier from nearby vineyards to round out our wine list. I can tell you from years of experience that it doesn't matter whether you're talking about wine, whiskey, beer or popsicles; taste is all in the mouth. While there is a bit of a learning curve for wine noobs, especially learning to drink big dry reds, what you like is what you like and there shouldn't be anything wrong with that. The whole point system on wine judging is absurd. Who gives crap what some effete snob in California think about a particular wine?
I am not at all surprised at the results of the studies linked here. Years of bartending tell me the same thing. Whoever dissed the results of state fair competitions shouldn't have. In my opinion they're the only competitions remotely close, from a business sense, to fair. Most wineries produce wines to be consumed by PEOPLE, not tweedy snobs.
My sister also works in a winery, was a bartender before that, and says the same thing. She steers clear of the $50 chards and $100 cabs. Too pretentious, and actually likes a lot of the cheaper wines. And asks for a certain Texas cab blend by name whenever I'm down there... talk about shipping "coal to Newcastle", it's a TX red going to California!
Every September in the Dallas area there's Grapefest's People's Choice event, the largest consumer-judged competition in the US, and it's been likened to a bunch of wine slobs instead of snobs. It is shunned by some wine makers, who are troubled by the plethora of green, young and sweet wines, but it's about making wine palatable and affordable for the masses, and not an elitist pursuit. In the end, the winner is usually not a bold cab or syrah or lenoir, or even toasty viognier, but a light, semi-sweet blanc du bois or maybe even a sweet muscadine. In other words, what the people like.
Last edited by SluggoF16; 07-16-2013 at 08:58 AM..
An old buddy who some people believed was some sort of gourmet was into wine. He didn't like anything unless it was $30+ a bottle or more. He and I each received a $50 bottle of Cabernet from a client of mine as a tip. So at a party at my house I filled my bottle with $12 Woodbridge, and served that to him. After telling me that my wine glasses weren't really suitable for proper wine tasting, he raved about how the wine was this and that with the other finish and had great nose blah blah blah. I never told him about the switch but have enjoyed the silliness of it ever since.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boxus
I can tell the difference between what I like and do not like.
Which is really the only important part of tasting
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