PhD, and former college math professor Suneal Chaudhary did the numbers, analyzing more than 64,000 wine scores dating to the 1970s and taken from the major wine magazines. The results are something I’ve been trying to get a handle on for years, the idea that critics favor reds over whites. The details are after the jump:
The study found:
I am not in the least surprised, anyone ITB seems to know this… the real question is why ? why ? if wine is so subjective ??? this might rouse the big questions… can a wine be rated without bias…
Should a wine rating be biased? Certain countries, or time periods, favor certain profiles in aggregate… should this be taken into account? You could argue both sides, if the argument is yes, then that would be a bias to serve the most people…
Whatever criteria is decided on will have an inherent bias (or what is trying to be achieved). Even if this is done by AI, the programmer will have to input a criteria to judge it by, long lived wines might be scored higher than fruit bombs and not everyone agrees which is better. Attempts to be all inclusive will yield less useful results to the people who care the most…
I could go on but those are the two things that came to mind first, I also wouldn’t doubt that there are probably holes in my argument as it’s not well structured… but in any case… we are a long way off of a perfect solution and should accept a certain amt of bias…
Also, I think in most cases reds have more to offer… now an iconic white can be more hauntingly complex than anything, but it takes a special something to catapult a white to that level… that’s just my bias anyways.
I don’t find this to be true. I’ve heard it before and I think it says more about the taster than about the wines.
But maybe that just an artifact of the particular white wines I tend to drink.
But how would you even gauge if this were true? What would constitute a “general” cross section of red and white wines on which to base such a judgment?
Can we re-run the numbers to see if stickies from Barsac, Sauternes, Alsace, and Port completely break the “findings?”
Perhaps supply, demand, competition, and ROI are leading contributors? In the US, why focus on making ultra-high end white wine that is unlikely to fetch more than $100 a bottle, Marcassin chard aside, when you could make any number of red wines with that space and effort that could exceed $125 a pop. Same with Bordeaux. Why farm whites when even elite dry whites fetch a small percentage of that demanded by elite red wines. There is a financial incentive for wineries to focus on satisfying consumer demand. Where demand for a product is high, and vineyard availability low the prices, and often the scores, are very high–see white burgundy.
Importantly, I assume critics’ acclaim is highly associated with customer approval. If customers are clamoring for red wine, critics who focus on popular red wine flavor profiles are likely to rise in prominence. Those tastes may differ than tastes associated with white wines, often enjoyed cooler with higher levels of acidity. The difference in a critic’s personal preference is undoubtedly a source of scoring bias red v. white.
Those are my best guesses. I’d also wager that stickies bust the mold, as they’re routinely scored through the roof.
we are in Burdett on the east side of Seneca two miles south of Atwater and five miles on 414 from Watkins glen… we never advertise and have a modest tasting-room that looks more like a house… we can’t handle the traffic now so … building a 1800 sq foot tasting room right next to the original tasting room and the foundation is in… if winter holds off I would like to get her framed with walls and enclosed etc…
white wine are just as complex…the difference, the notes are elusive and coy as to hide in a fog and as the fog lifts you get the burlesque of TN’s from white wines…
The only thing that would make some people think that white wines are not as complex is the temperature at which they are served. Too cold and the flavors die. Why do you think Coors Lite, and the like, are supposed to be served ice cold?