Originally Posted by Croydon Bob
The thing is with 'wine tasters' if you take a cheap wine and an expensive wine and swap the labels, they'll rate the cheap one as being better because they expect it to be so because of the label.
I bet if they were deprived of their watches they couldn't taste the transition time between a leaf period and a root period but that their ability to do so would return once they knew the time.
.
Wine tasters? Its all bollocks.
http://www.wine-pages.com/forum/tnotes/bordeaux.htm
Here are some gems:
03/04 1988 Chateau Gruard Larose (St Julien)
Decanted 4 hours in advance. Dark red plum, the nose was animalistic, smoky and exhibited saddle leather, almost like a fine N.Rhone red. Silky palate start, the mature fruit are held well by slightly drying tannins. Good acidity. 91/100. (Nicos Neocleous, UK)
03/04 1982 Grand-Puy-Ducasse, Pauillac 5eme Cru Classe
Appearance - as per the GPL. Nose - "Musar-like" dried dog turd, bitumen and caramel - my guess is that the grapes for this wine were picked late and very ripe. On the palate, sweet, ripe red jube fruit, medium bodied. Good, but a tad odd. (Phil Shorten, UK)
Yes, thats right. Dog turd
So, we're still better off buying £5 plonk from the corner shop, then ...Yes, thats right. Dog turd
Five whole pounds?? My, how the other half live!
£2.99 in the co-op does me just fine!
Sorry ... I can't help it if most of my friends live in Hampstead (lucky sods)!Five whole pounds?? My, how the other half live!
£2.99 in the co-op does me just fine!
I was trained to Wine and Spirit Association Diploma standard although I didn't take the exam. It's about equivalent to an A level - one down (and a long way down) from the ultimate - Master of Wine.
Some points:
1) You are all paying much too much for your wine. £2.99 (€3.20 ish) should buy you a good wine - it does here. Move to Spain.
2) There is a lot of bullshit
the nose was animalistic, smoky and exhibited saddle leatherbeing two good examplesMusar-like" dried dog turd, bitumen and caramel
3) To do a proper wine tasting:
Someone must be "in the know"
This person must choose 6 wines of one basic type e.g. RED or DRY WHITE and buy several bottles of each
They must give everyone a taste with the full knowledge of which wine is which i.e. with the labels on. It helps at this stage if someone knows what they're talking about to describe each wine properly.
After this do the tasting again but this time "blind" with no labels. Everyone will probably be able to determine which wine is which and will be able to discern preferences and differences in quality.
Then get pissed.
I have to say I am very fond of wine, especially sauvignon blanc, and especially that variety from New Zealend. A couple of years ago, I tried "Cloudy Bay" which is THE big name in NZ sauv b. Here, it seems to sell at £20 a bottle or more. I don't think my taste buds are sophisticated enough to appreciate it - a St Clair NZ sauv b at half the price pleased me well enough. And Chile and South Africa are producing better and better dry whites.
Big names always mean big prices, especially in France. I'd love to try a £250 bottle of claret (as long as someone else was paying), but I very much doubt I would be able to appreciate it.
http://www.hailshamcellars.com/new_world_2.htm
Yes I should qualify my 'good' wine, maybe 'not Crap' or 'drinkable' would be nearer the mark.
Anybody who tried properly would appreciate the huge difference between a 2.99 bottle of plonk and a £35 bottle of Claret or Bordeaux, more expensive than that would be wasted on most including me.
It was a long time ago that I was in the wine trade. Australia, New Zealand et al have been invented since, I wouldn't know what I was doing these days.
Now I drink beer.
Peasant
I declare an interest. I work work for the retailer. However, at the moment, in the U.K. a very good deal indeed is Vineyard X Garnacha, a Spanish number for you Chaggle, at £10 for 3.
Not a fine wine but you won't find much more quaffable at the price. Let me know what you think. Avail at Threshers or Wine Rack.
Nose of burnt old witches gusset, by the way!
How the hell do you know what that smells like?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sciencean...-was-made.html
Using a kind of electronic nose, known as a mass spectrometer, they analysed the compounds in vaporised samples of wine to produce detailed chemical signatures that can be matched against a database of characteristics to identify a wine's source.
It means they can tell exactly which variety of grape a wine is made from, the region and vineyard where it was produced and the source of the wood used in the barrel.
They now hope their system can be developed to help fight trade in fake vintage wines which plagues the £ 100 million a year international fine wine trade.
Interesting - there seems to be the same delightful mixture of bullshit and science here as in my trade (perfumery).
Spent some time last week at a lab learning how GC/MS works. It's bloody marvellous! Takes years to build a catalogue of constituents for the substances you're measuring.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks