re: Proof: All Wine Tastes the Same

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This thread will be like a bat signal for SFP.


Like every other thread on this entire board?

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No shite.

Look, I didn't take the time to read the link in depth. I can tell you that most of those studies are, in a sense, rigged to produce the desired result, i.e., that "experts" are "full of shite".

There certainly is a lot of bullshite tossed around by SOME wine experts, and, true, there aren't necessarily huge differences in some price ranges, varietals or vintages (an extremely overestimated variable except in certain cases). But to suggest there aren't significant differences among price points, varietals, etc., is just absurd.

these judges weren't scrubs though.

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These judges are not amateurs either. They read like a who's who of the American wine industry from winemakers, sommeliers, critics and buyers to wine consultants and academics.

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LINK

I'm not trying to be a dick, I just want to hear your thoughts on it since it's your field of education/work.

I like this way of looking at it. Everyone likes different things and its better to help point out a wine based on what someone likes than it is to call one "better" than the other. Better seems like such an arbitrary description.

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found that only 10% of judges could tell that they were being given the same exact wine multiple times.

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Have you ever been wine tasting before at a winery or a tasting room? If you've tasted multiple wines in a short period of time, they all start to taste alike. They all taste like a mouthful of tannins.

Here's another point. Give me the same bottle of wine, say, 5 times over the course of an hour. It WILL taste different each time, for a variety of reasons.

The article doesn't really prove anything because there are simply too many variables that the brief article doesn't mention.

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Beer Description. I do know people that can pick some of these flavors out. My wife has a palette like that. But after one beer, or wine, your taste buds change. The next one is going to taste different.

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A - gorgeous ruby, copper color. Different hues are picked up when looked at in different lights. Little head and lacing.

S - sweet mother of cherries. Straight up morello cherries all over the hizzy. The usual sour/lambic aromas are present (vinegar, barnyard funk, acidic wine), but it's the cherries that comes through and sets this apart.

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T - boom. Cherries, mang. Tart, puckering vinegary, wine, Pinot, gruner veltliner (comes to mind), oak is there but a little hidden.

M - refreshing, crisp, light champagne-like effervescence. Great lingering finish. For me, not overly sour but perfectly tart.

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what beer is that? Sounds like monk's cafe

Wine tasting for the average person may not be science but to some it's all encompassing: we use 3 of our senses to taste (sight, smell, and taste)...we study the chemistry of the process of fermentation, the extraction of vanillins depending on species of oak, char of barrel, and times filled whether new or old...we study the geography and topography of the land understanding elevations and soil concentration...we study the biology and genetics of grape varietals, clonal selections, and root stocks depending on the region of the world. So for some of us, it's more scientific comprehension than the majority of people I knew studied in college.

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of our senses to taste

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sight

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...we study the geography and topography of the land understanding elevations and soil concentration...we study the biology and genetics of grape varietals, clonal selections, and root stocks depending on the region of the world. So for some of us, it's more scientific comprehension than the majority of people I knew studied in college

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While I understand your knowledge of wine is vast, I also know the things that you mention you see and know do not reflect taste...they can lead up to what you EXPECT to taste, which is fine and good...but it also shows that the subjective measure of tasting a wine and picking out all the supposed nuance is already skewed by your expectation.

Actually I beg to differ: the chalk based soils of champagne, especially the cote de blancs and specifically the clos de mesnil, gives a minerality to their Chardonnay that no other sparkling wine in the world can emulate. The large galet stones in France collect heat and during the hot days for the cold nights in chateauneuf-du-pape. The heat from these stones keeps these grapes ripening because of the warmth provided to the soil and vines. At higher elevations, especially in napa, the wines experience a slightly more elongated ripening and the rains typically will not affect them as badly because the water will flow towards the bench lands rather than standing in the property. I could go for days on facts of why things taste how they should, or planting eucalyptus trees or rosemary near a property will influence the flavor of a wine. I definitely do not expect many people to understand these things because they don't have enough of a basis to compare. But after more than a decade and tasting roughly more than 2000 wines a year, you can truly feel where these grapes came from and taste them in the bottle. It's almost as if you closed your eyes you could imagine being there and the climate it experienced that year.

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the chalk based soils of champagne, especially the cote de blancs and specifically the clos de mesnil, gives a minerality to their Chardonnay that no other sparkling wine in the world can emulate. The large galet stones in France collect heat and during the hot days for the cold nights in chateauneuf-du-pape. The heat from these stones keeps these grapes ripening because of the warmth provided to the soil and vines. At higher elevations, especially in napa, the wines experience a slightly more elongated ripening and the rains typically will not affect them as badly because the water will flow towards the bench lands rather than standing in the property. I could go for days on facts of why things taste how they should, or planting eucalyptus trees or rosemary near a property will influence the flavor of a wine. I definitely do not expect many people to understand these things because they don't have enough of a basis to compare. But after more than a decade and tasting roughly more than 2000 wines a year, you can truly feel where these grapes came from and taste them in the bottle. It's almost as if you closed your eyes you could imagine being there and the climate it experienced that year.

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You responded to a statement that was not made. The statement was that you use all the above non taste information from non taste senses to know exactly what to expect to taste, from experience and education.

The point being is that if you represent a wine coming from a certain area, time, vineyard etc. After tasting you will describe it similarly to other wines you have had in the past from there...whether it is from there or not. Studies have shown similar to be the truth.

If it was the same type of wine with the same price point (ie a $20 merlot vs a $20 merlot) this doesn't surprise me at all.

I can differentiate between types and dirt cheap vs. high dollar. The types (merlot vs pinot vs cab) isn't to tough. Sadly the $10 bottle vs the $80 bottle comparison is by severity of my hangover.