Barossa and McLaren - You suck [Hyperbole for you serious types]

WINE TALK
1

I barely even find these wines drinkable these days…maybe if some of these “high-end” highly rated wines were $7, I wouldn’t find the residual sugar disgusting. Not sure what could get me to buy these wines again. Too bad, b/c some cooler climate Aussies are probably decent drinks.

EDIT: TO be clear, my frustration is based on a handful of recent experiences and is partly for wine critics who rated these wines hugely without any notion about whether the wines would age or not. It is also frustration with the winemaking style where many wines made in the style turn into dessert wine after a few years in the cellar after the earthier tannins start taming.

I am not implying that ALL wines are bad. Some people have no sense of hyperbole unfortunately and like to squelch honest opinions if it’s not the same as their own.

2

What have you been drinking??

have you tried John Duval, Penfolds St henri, Coriole, Samuel’s Gorge, Rockford and the like?

3

I’ve always found it a little sad when somebody says an entire area – including all the boutique wineries, the winemakers with the passion, the farmers who struggle to create something special from mother nature – and say everything sucks. That’s it: no exceptions, no buts, no nuthin’. Just a big FU to everyone. I’m not sure I’ve ever travelled to any spot in the world where I can safely say that everything – and everyone – of their wines suck. But good luck with that. To each his/her own I guess. newhere

4

Yep, tried lately…John Duval Plexus and Entity…Coppermine Road…John Riddoch…St. Henri…Rockford…11th Hour…Dead Arm… CR Ebenezer…and a buch of others. Very few have I liked. The St. Henri has gotten worse with age, the Duvals andWynns Riddoch have been average at best for me, and a few of the others have just been bad. Never had Coriole or Samuel’s Gorge. I’m very sensitive to extreme ripeness and residual sugar, so that doesn’t help.

5

In Aussie bashers’ defense, Chris Ringland started it! neener

Ringland to consumers: [middle-finger.gif]

6

Thomas, unfortunately when we talk about regions and the like, we always have to generalize. It’s nothing personal to anyone, but when 80%+ of the 93+ point WA, IWC, and WS wines have clear residual sugar or excessivle ripeness and huge brix and I don’t enoy, yep some generalization is required. I’m talking purely statistically about my hit rate, which is absolutely miserable. That said, I think some cooler climate areas are underrated. When I say Napa 2007 is overrated or warm cliamte CA syrah, I don’t mean ALL those wines are overrated, just more than not. I was a devout Aussie fan for a while, and now I dread pulling them from my cellar. But every once in a while, you’re right one will be really good. Not good enough for me. Nothing necessitates not fermenting most of the residual sugar or waiting to pick until huge brix except an attempt to sell overly ripe/RS wines to sugar starved Americans.

7

So are you saying a St. Henri is overripe and sugary? I doubt you are overly sensitive to residual sugar because that’s really just a silly statement considering your buying of these wines in the past. Your tastes have probably changed and that’s perfectly normal IMO… You’re probably also now overly biased against certain regions because you have in your head either you don’t like them or feel you shouldn’t like them.

In any case…if you have a bunch of over the top aussies you can’t stand to drink but want to get rid of for a good price, I’m sure you can find people that will take them off your hands…

8

removed.

9

To whom?

10

Rich,

Personally I think stating a region is overrated is silly too. What you really mean is, “I’m not partial to wines of this region.” Or more pointedly, “I don’t think people who love wine from this region are good tasters.” But, I guess stating that a region or a wine is overrated isn’t too offensive. But that’s not what you said. You said, “Barossa and McLaren - You suck.”

I am not partial to Tempranillo. I’ve just never had one that wowed me. But I think that says more about my palate than the world of Spanish wine lovers. And I certainly wouldn’t say the grape sucks.

In the end, I understand that you are just making a point. Your wine tastes have evolved, and you have cellared some mistakes. Sadly that happens to most of us, and we share your frustration.

11

removed.

12

I love it when somebody shills and gets jumped on. Thoroughly deserved of course, when the generalization is this dumb, and the headline this inflammatory. I would respond properly to a more reasoned post, but not this…

13

If you don’t understand the hyperbole of the post, which is based on a few horrid bottles of late that were highly rated, then I can’t really help you. Last time I checked, it was a free country and freedom of speech was encouraged as were opinions on this board about wines and regions. Would it help if I instead titled the post, “More than 80% of the Barossa and McLaren valley wines I drink that received high scores are just flat out bad and age terribly.”?

I use hyperbole purely out of frustration b/c most ratings services rated these wines extraordinarily high and I wasted my hard earned $$. Hence why I use the words, “overrated”.

14

So why take the anger out at the regions, instead of either critics or yourself for blindly going after highly scored wines?

15

You mean the thread should be titled, “I suck”?

16

It’s just the title of the post, but it is equally aimed at the predominant winemaking style of the regions AND at the critics. My serious point to this post is beware to buyer if you believe the critics drinking windows or ratings. I liked some of these same wines young, but they have gotten prunier and worse over time. Unfortunately, critics are the only thing to go on often and before I had a broader wine knowledge and experience with most producers it was something i relied on.

17

So when a region produces ripe fruit, it sucks, but when a region produces underripe fruit, that’s terroir? [stirthepothal.gif]

18

All very good examples of the “exception to the rule”. I visited both Samuel’s Gorge and Rockford recently and these two guys reshaped my thinking when it comes to their respective regions. The potential for Barossa and McLaren Vale is there… producers just need to “tame the beast” and harvest early enough in the game to maintain complexity. They’re not all syrupy, overdone bombs… though many are. Unfortunately, the bad reputation of the two regions has forced many of the more balanced, boutique producers to reduce export to the U.S., or pull out altogether. Not to mention that importers avoid their product like the plague.

19

Interestingly these styles were the rule, not the exception up to 15 years ago.

20

At least it is not like you bought CDOs rated by Moody’s. :wink: I have to agree with other posters that your beef is with the rating services you mention. Not the wine. But unlike financial rating services, wine ratings are subjective opinions. You have established that you don’t agree with JM and the lot on Aussie wines. Great. If you instead spend some time with a Somm and tell him what you like, and they have a decent cellar, I bet he can find stuff you will enjoy. I recently had a 1999 Cyril Henschke, which was delightful, but I admittedly would not have picked it myself. (Bob liked it, though, I realized later.) Expensive to find this way, though.