18/11/2009 8:30 p.m.
...how or why should I trust anybodys 'expert' opinion?
I can open a bottle of wine and declare it to be nectar from the gods then open another bottle ( presumably the same as the first one - at least according to the lable) on another occasion and swear that it's nothing but drain cleaner.
Are your tasting abilities consistently reliable?
19/11/2009 12:24 p.m.
pauly said:
...how or why should I trust anybodys 'expert' opinion?
I can open a bottle of wine and declare it to be nectar from the gods then open another bottle ( presumably the same as the first one - at least according to the lable) on another occasion and swear that it's nothing but drain cleaner.
Are your tasting abilities consistently reliable?
Pauly, you absolutely have to trust your own taste buds as they are THE only ones that count! You are the one who is drinking the wine. If you drink the same wine twice, are you 100% sure it is the same, or just that the brand is the same? For instance
Saint Clair produce a number of Sauvignon Blanc wines and they are subtely different from each other. The vintage (read year grapes grown) of the wine will affect the taste even if it is the same grape varietal and the same wine brand, year to year can have a big impact on the wine. The same wine varietal grown in different parts of the country or the world will taste different. Your mood, who you are with, where you are, if you eat with or without food will all play a part too.
The variations in wine is one of the great things about it, so many wines to discover and more to love and different moments will have different results. Sure some wines are pretty amazing most of the time, but even bottles that are worth a pair of prada shoes can have years that they are more Number 1 shoe wharehouse worth.
Once you get to know what you like about a wine ( and it does not need to be fancy terminology) but do you like that it is fruity, do you like its sweetness, do you like it a bit dry, do you like it to feel like you can practically chew it in your mouth or finer, so it is a subtle tingle of flavour dancing on your tongue? Once you start to understand what YOU like and don't like then you can find wines that you are more likely to enjoy! Experts can offer you guidance, but at the end of the day it is still their opinion of what wine is good and it may not suit you or you may not agree, so finding yourself in wine and relying on your own taste buds is THE best and only expert you need in my book! The journey of discovery can and should be fun, informal and interesting and not full of language, or terminology that means nothing to you! If it is Gods nectar one day and drain cleaner the next, I would say, don't blame your taste buds, it obviously did not suit you on that occasion and could be for a number of reasons! Don't write it off for letting you down once, but more than twice, and it probably is just not the wine for you, so find another- plenty to choose from! That's just my opinion for what it's worth :)
19/11/2009 2:55 p.m.
pauly said:
...how or why should I trust anybodys 'expert' opinion?
I can open a bottle of wine and declare it to be nectar from the gods then open another bottle ( presumably the same as the first one - at least according to the lable) on another occasion and swear that it's nothing but drain cleaner.
Are your tasting abilities consistently reliable?
Hey Pauly, totally know what u mean, sometime feel stupid as I buy a wine coz it has loads of stickers get it home and then don't really like it and think there is something wrong with me. Quite cool tho as from reading posts on lovewine, beginning to realise am not alone and you know if I like my wine and it's $11.99 and no stars, then that is OK. It's about me, my wine and my preference. Thanks lovewine by the way for giving me permission to have opinion and not feel stupid.
21/11/2009 3:38 p.m.
pauly said:
...how or why should I trust anybodys 'expert' opinion?
I can open a bottle of wine and declare it to be nectar from the gods then open another bottle ( presumably the same as the first one - at least according to the lable) on another occasion and swear that it's nothing but drain cleaner.
Are your tasting abilities consistently reliable?
Totally know what you mean pauly. It just proves that there is so much more to drinking and enjoying wine than the wine itself. Your mood, what sort of day you have had, where you are, who you are with, what glass you are drinking out of, what you are or have been eating, etc etc, all have some impact on how you perceive that particular bottle of wine. So often, I have been disappointed when a second bottle doesn't measure up to my memories of the first - just because all these others factors are not quite right!
23/11/2009 12:30 p.m.
blacknaf said:
pauly said:
...how or why should I trust anybodys 'expert' opinion?
I can open a bottle of wine and declare it to be nectar from the gods then open another bottle ( presumably the same as the first one - at least according to the lable) on another occasion and swear that it's nothing but drain cleaner.
Are your tasting abilities consistently reliable?
Totally know what you mean pauly. It just proves that there is so much more to drinking and enjoying wine than the wine itself. Your mood, what sort of day you have had, where you are, who you are with, what glass you are drinking out of, what you are or have been eating, etc etc, all have some impact on how you perceive that particular bottle of wine. So often, I have been disappointed when a second bottle doesn't measure up to my memories of the first - just because all these others factors are not quite right!
To give you some more insight into stickers...
If a wine has a magazine recommendation or award sticker, it has been tasted by people in the wine industry. That can be wine writers, critics, media, or even winemakers from other wineries. These people all have their own styles that they like - which is not necessarily the same as what you like!
When these wines are being tasted, it will be in a flight - usually a lineup of other wines of the same variety. These flights can sometimes contain over a hundred wines. I'm sure you can guess (or know from personal experience) that you get a little bit overloaded when trying lots of wines! What might look great after you've tried 40 other Chardonnays today, might not be so great when you're pouring yourself a glass with dinner. Or visa versa, what might not stand out at all after a bunch of other wines, might just be perfect to share with friends at home...
Although stickers are a handy place to start, I agree with lovewine - what YOU think is the most important thing!
24/11/2009 12:55 p.m.
pauly said:
...how or why should I trust anybodys 'expert' opinion?
I can open a bottle of wine and declare it to be nectar from the gods then open another bottle ( presumably the same as the first one - at least according to the lable) on another occasion and swear that it's nothing but drain cleaner.
Are your tasting abilities consistently reliable?
But experts have superhuman tastebuds that analyse every molecule in a wine then send it to their brains in a neat little number....'this wine is a 95 point wine'...dont trust your own tastebuds! they are lying to you......
24/11/2009 1:23 p.m.
monica said:
pauly said:
...how or why should I trust anybodys 'expert' opinion?
I can open a bottle of wine and declare it to be nectar from the gods then open another bottle ( presumably the same as the first one - at least according to the lable) on another occasion and swear that it's nothing but drain cleaner.
Are your tasting abilities consistently reliable?
But experts have superhuman tastebuds that analyse every molecule in a wine then send it to their brains in a neat little number....'this wine is a 95 point wine'...dont trust your own tastebuds! they are lying to you......
Monica, it doesn't matter if they have super human taste buds or not, they are not YOUR tastebuds and wine is probably the most subjective of products, so you have to trust your own taste buds. In fact there was an interesting recent article in the Wall Street Journal on
why wine ratings are slightly flawed to point out that sometimes, wine judges and scores are as reliable as a toss of a coin. Regardless, does it really matter if a wine expert or critic thinks a wine is fabulous and you don't like it? As you pointed out they are looking for very specific technical aspects in the wine and some of these may actually be very different from the reasons you as a person do enjoy or don't enjoy a wine. It doesn't matter if a Syrah is the most perfect representation of a Syrah that exists, if you don't like Syrah, nothing will change that fact! Always trust your own instincts or flavour profiles especially when it comes to food or wine as the the aesthetics of pure enjoyment are really simply communicated, you love it or you don't, but one way or the other, what you think is all that matters and no number in the world can make up for that!