I tend to agree with this idea of “change your perspective” .
I mostly drink Pinot and Chard, so many big Syrah/Cab/Merlots are just out of my preference zone. But in the right setting, when Burg isn’t up against Rhône (or whatever) things can taste great if the big wine is in balance.
Last winter, we got the gang together with visiting Berserker ambassador @Dav3_Dyr0ff for Rhône’s and what else, Cassoulet
@rob_klafter slipped a high octane SQN Syrah into the Chave lineup. The reaction around the table was kind of “that’s interesting, thanks for sharing” and we moved enthusiastically into higher alcohol and sweeter dessert wines.
If we had sipped that ginormous SQN colder and blind with say, a dark bitter chocolate flourless cake, I bet we might’ve loved it.
Food (or drink) for thought…
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As others have mentioned, serving temperature is really important. ‘Room temperature’ for red wines is a mistake; I drink all my reds straight out of the wine fridge or put them in the kitchen fridge for 20 minutes.
Yes, cooler for higher alcohol reds helps with the perception of heat and burn.
Conversely, the better the white wine, the closer to room temperature you want it.
This reminds me of my experience with the 2007 Lewelling cab. I had my first bottle when it was about 5 years old, and it was a hot mess. Tasted like the worst cough syrup and was completely panned by everyone at the table.
I had one other bottle, which I opened 9-10 years later and it was a different wine. The alcohol no longer stood out in the same way once the sweet fruit and heavy oak had evolved and tertiary elements had begun to emerge. It seemed much more balanced and, while not amazing, was unexpectedly enjoyable. I never would’ve predicted that.
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I thought Turley had significant cut back on ripeness/alcohol levels?
Most are still in the 15% range, but they don’t drink as boozy. Your results may vary.
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I think a big part of it is that Tegan has (at least as far as I can tell) dialed back the new oak significantly as compared to 15+ years ago.
Riper grapes but with modest amount of oak plus sufficient acidity is a formula which works pretty well. The fruit is joyous and easy to like, yet the wine doesn’t taste as heavy and fatiguing.
I think it turns out that a lot of what many of us object to in the “very big modern style red” is the oak, probably even more than the ripeness/alcohol.
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They are balanced and full of flavor. I enjoy them.
That’s the exception. If a wine is shut down or tight, it isn’t in a state to show its balance, so things like tannin and heat stand out. So, it may need age to “come around” or decanting to “open up”. But, those are cases of showing out of balance rather than being out of balance. If its hot when the fruit is on full display, itll get worse when the fruit starts to fade.
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