by Jeff Miller of Artisan Family of Wines (Seven Artisans, Sly Dog Cellars, Red Côte Rosé)
Every Wednesday I post my recommendations of the best of last week’s postings concerning wine, whether blogs or news. I list them in the order I read them, so you shouldn’t infer anything about the order in which I list these posts.
Wine critics’ advice is unchallenged bunk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/04/wine-critics-advice-unchallenged-bunk
I’ve always considered myself at the extreme subjective end of the subjective vs. objective views of wine appreciation, but Tim Hanni has even me beat. This article is fascinating, and does a good job of comparing the two sides of the controversy. Tim goes places where not even I can follow him (e.g., ignore all advice on wine and food pairings). But overall, I’m more in agreement with him than not. The bottom line for me is that wine consumers should just trust their own palates. If wine critics each have their own individual palates, and disagree with each other all the time on how good a wine is, why should anyone feel duty-bound to give credence to what they have to say.
Systematic Approach to Tasting
Natalie Guinovart
Some comments on my posts on scorecards. I can’t say I totally agree with those comments, since they seem to me to emphasize the subjective appeal of a wine to an individual taster, which is what I’m tiring to get away from. The post also has a copy of the WSET wine scorecard (I wasn’t previously familiar with it), which in some ways is pretty similar to mine, and which I would recommend.
New Nielsen Study Reveals Positive Consumer Trends for Merlot
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/New-Nielsen-Study-Reveals-bw-4259160670.html?x=0&.v=1
At least according to Nielsen, Merlot still has a dedicated following. But that grape has, unfortunately, not kept up with other reds, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, in overall volume. Hopefully, this survey will help this grape improve its position in the market.
Red Wine, Dark Chocolate Kill Cancer
http://mygloss.com/fit/2010/02/11/red-wine-dark-chocolate-kill-cancer/
“What we eat is really our chemotherapy three times a day,” declares this researcher. Red wine helps kill cancer cells, though whether it really helps real people is still subject to ambiguous findings. I’m quite sure this isn’t the last word on the subject.
Tasting in the rain
Winesooth.com
http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/2010/02/08/tasting-in-the-rain/#more-3294
Does the ambient temperature, humidity, etc., affect tasting. Arthur feels it does, and, though I never really thought about this before (except that you obviously shouldn’t be tasting big trends on hot summer afternoons), I’m inclined to agree.
Hungarians Worth Knowing
The Pour, Eric Asimov
http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/hungarians-worth-knowing/
More important that the discussion of Hungarian wines is the plug for diverity in wine. There’s no good reason why so few wine varieties should dominate the world wine scene, when so many obscure varieties produce such stunning wines.
Life’s short. Make sure to stop and smell the rosé
http://palatepress.com/2010/02/life’s-short-make-sure-to-stop-and-smell-the-rose/
A real good discussion of rosé, how it’s made, and how good it can be.
For keeping up to date with what’s going on the in wine world, the best all around source is http://winebusiness.com.
Hi Jeff, and thanks for including me in your Good Reads this week! What I probably didn’t stress enough in my post was that the scorecards you questioned simply don’t provide the proper format for evaluating a wine objectively. When I stated that what a wine tastes like is entirely subjective, I was more referring to its taste rather than overall quality, which can only be properly assessed by analyzing a number of other factors. That’s why I’m such a fan of the WSET Systematic Approach, because it allows for us to arrive at a more informed (objective) conclusion, taking into consideration more than a wine’s taste, but the sum of all its parts.
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