Re:Wine tasting is bullshit
by prawn on Thursday May 09, 2013 @11:43PM
(#5684488)
"Wine tasting is bullshit" - what a load of link-baiting crap.
Wine tasting isn't just reviewers and their rankings. It's fun, it's poetic, it's analytical, it's exploration and so on. Ultimately, you will like what you like and no serious person in wine will tell you otherwise. Thinking more about what you're tasting or how what you're using works, or why an advertisement said something the way it said, and countless other examples are a joy in life: understanding our world.
If you can buy your wine through cellar door tastings, you are more able to pick things you like (adjusted for price) rather than be reliant on brands, labels, price and the opinions of others. What you taste and how many descriptors you feel you can assign is up to you and of course it will vary from one person to another. I can't remember having ever bought something based on the medals printed on the label; I have once or twice heard of a surprise winner (e.g., $15 bottle taking out a competition) and wanted to try it for myself. I think that's on par with hearing "critics are raving" and checking out a film.
The courses I have done don't teach good vs bad but teach you to identify what are considered to be faults - corked, brettanomyces, etc - but also note that in some cases these are regarded as complexities by some. e.g, if you like something, you like it. And ultimately help you identify regional differences, varieties and so on.
Some people are happy to drive their car. Others like knowing how it works and tinkering. Doesn't mean car knowledge is bullshit.
I really enjoy blind tastings and trying to guess years, regions and varieties. My wife's family are very involved in wine (vineyard owner, winemaker, wine sales, etc) and take blind tastings to ever more flowery levels. There's a lot of name-dropping of regions and exotic varieties but it's all in good fun as entertainment, and an excuse to try more.
Wine tasting isn't just reviewers and their rankings. It's fun, it's poetic, it's analytical, it's exploration and so on. Ultimately, you will like what you like and no serious person in wine will tell you otherwise. Thinking more about what you're tasting or how what you're using works, or why an advertisement said something the way it said, and countless other examples are a joy in life: understanding our world.
If you can buy your wine through cellar door tastings, you are more able to pick things you like (adjusted for price) rather than be reliant on brands, labels, price and the opinions of others. What you taste and how many descriptors you feel you can assign is up to you and of course it will vary from one person to another. I can't remember having ever bought something based on the medals printed on the label; I have once or twice heard of a surprise winner (e.g., $15 bottle taking out a competition) and wanted to try it for myself. I think that's on par with hearing "critics are raving" and checking out a film.
The courses I have done don't teach good vs bad but teach you to identify what are considered to be faults - corked, brettanomyces, etc - but also note that in some cases these are regarded as complexities by some. e.g, if you like something, you like it. And ultimately help you identify regional differences, varieties and so on.
Some people are happy to drive their car. Others like knowing how it works and tinkering. Doesn't mean car knowledge is bullshit.
I really enjoy blind tastings and trying to guess years, regions and varieties. My wife's family are very involved in wine (vineyard owner, winemaker, wine sales, etc) and take blind tastings to ever more flowery levels. There's a lot of name-dropping of regions and exotic varieties but it's all in good fun as entertainment, and an excuse to try more.