Share a controversial belief you have about wine

WINE TALK
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I don’t believe in “matching food with wine”. I just drink the wine I want and order/make the food I want.

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Topic reads: “Share a controversial belief YOU have about wine”

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That biodynamically farmed grapes/wines are better. And, that this belief isn’t “controversial”.

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For the record I wrote this some time ago before a wine blogger blogged the topic & subsequently another writer critiqued his piece in a publication . So with that, I state it again as I feel strongly about it.

It is my opinion that as we get older and more importantly as critics get older our sense of smell and taste become less and less sensitive. There is no argument that can refute the fact that as we age, we begin to lose our senses (vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste). Now it may be different for each of us, but in my opinion when specific senses are hyper used, I believe they are desensitizing much more rapidly.

Ps; Anyone who wants to argue that experience trumps an aging / less sensitive palate I will call bullshit on right now…

I found an interesting article here on the web by a Ph.D. Making Sense of Sensory Losses as We Age: Childhood, Adulthood, Elderhood? — Publications

My personal opinion is that critics should be youthful and the turnover should be much more often like in the NFL, NBA, etc. These critics should be at the top of their game, with fierce drive and strong experience like a college player. The old guard should pass the baton especially at largest publication and pass it more often and not to another critic who has sat next to the head critic for the last 15 years…

You don’t see Michael Jordan playing basketball or Joe Montana playing football anymore do you?

Edited because of spelling and grammer

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I think you’re absolutely right, Jamie. I’ve noticed this in myself over the last 20 years or so.

My controversial belief is that you should sit back and enjoy wine, not overanalyze it. And never take notes - it just gets in the way of enjoyment (for me).

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#2. Wine buying can be as thrilling, if not more exciting, as drinking the wine itself.

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So Bernard Noblet is obviously past his prime and should give up winemaking since he has lost his senses?

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Bernard Noblet is not a critic Brian. Furthermore the Domaine makes wines in the vineyard. This sentence might be overdoing it but It wouldn’t matter if Bernard had no sense of taste as it has no bearing as the wines come from the terroir. DRC is not blending and his taste has no bearing except for picking decisions.

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Jamie - I’d disagree with the ‘critics should be younger’ part since that assumes that either they match the wine buying public better when they are or that it’s valuable to have a critic pick out as much as they can from a wine even if they wine buying public cannot.

I’d restate that as “we need a much broader stable of critics” i.e. I want the older critic who has tasted the last 30 vintages of a wine and can this bring a depth of experience. I want the younger critic who isn’t as beholden to thinking of wine regions along traditional lines. I want female critics since women tend, on average, to have physiological capabilities that are better than males.

And, yes, experience DOES count. Sorry, but it does. Take your example… would you rather have had Joe Montana late in his career when he was still good… or a more athletically gifted but young QB like, oh, Jamarcus Russell? A QB whose not as athletically on top as when he was young may well be better because of his experience even though he can’t throw as deep. To bring this back to wine, I want someone who tasted, say, the 1993 red Burgs on release and at various points because they can taste current vintages and place them in some context.

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That a whole generation of kids raised on super sour acidic candy will reject out of hand the low acid fruit bomb style and make Muscadet the new Sauternes.

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Neither are Joe Montana or Michael Jordan. [scratch.gif] Maybe I’m missing the correlation somehow.

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Good points Rick. I tend to agree with some of them. My post isn’t cut and dry and you do a good job at a counter arguement. I think there is a sweet spot and some experience does matter. With that said though, I don’t think experience needs to go back as far as someone who tasted 74 Heitz 4 years after release at this point.

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Yes you are Brian…

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How do you explain the fact that people tend to more from bigger richer wines to more elegant wines as they get older.

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Edited because of spelling and grammer

That’s funny.

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The same way it can be explained that 75% of adults use some sort of vision correction. It’s not 100%

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[rofl.gif] [berserker.gif]

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Why don’t you just point to Laube and Parker giving higher and higher scores to bigger and bigger wines? Laube’s ratings have increased recently for highly extracted, big, fruit forward napa cabs, like 07 Revana and 07 Altamura, that he wouldn’t have raved about in the past. Parker shifted towards bigger and bigger wines as he grew older. While some certainly shift towards lighter wines, there is clear evidence of critics “needing more flavor” as they age.

Senses diminish. Taste, like other senses, is not really any different. Elegant often means acidic or tannic, as opposed to fruity. Perhaps mouthfeel eventually becomes more important to aging palates than X or Y fruit flavors.

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I believe that warming a wine in the microwave, if done carefully, does no damage.
I believe that Brett is a flaw.
I believe that “bruising” wine is a myth.
I believe that Biodynamics is bunk, that an equivalent amount of care and attention would result in just as good wine without the hocus pocus.

P Hickner

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Keeping Rick’s admonishment in mind, a few controversial beliefs I have are:

  1. Parker still matters. Whether it’s a good thing or not isn’t the point, just that he does.

  2. People start drinking fruity wines and move to elegant wines. Haven’t seen it happen all that much and it hasn’t happened to me. I still like Shiraz and Zin, still like Muscadet and Cab Franc and Nebbiolo, and still don’t know what’s the fuss over Pinot Noir. All that’s happened over the past 25 years or so is that I’ve found more to love, but I haven’t jettisoned my first loves.

  3. It’s obvious whether a wine is made with “native” or “commercial” yeasts, or aged in French or American or another kind of oak.

  4. A “sense of place” is obvious w/out seeing a label.

I like Peter’s posts above, but I don’t find them controversial at all.