Grape Prejudices

S

Steven Spielmann

Steven Spielmann
I have felt that as I become a more experienced wine drinker they should go away. But they don't. I am more easily charmed by Sangiovese, Gamay, and Chenin Blanc based wines, and I can't quite get past that peppery thing in most Syrah.

Should I feel bad about this? I want to overcome my limitations. I can certainly enjoy well-made wines from any grape(s), but I wish I wasn't so immediately put off by certain fairly common tastes.

On this same general theme I admit to being suspicious of people who say they like or don't like Chardonnay. That grape seems to me to be a canvas on which the terroir and winemaker have free scope to paint. Although I guess neither make much of a mark in the majority of bottles, which may explain why people have this odd tendency to say that they like it or don't.

Do you folks who are wine bloggers, sommelliers, retailers, importers, critics, etc. still retain such prejudices? Or does steady effort allow you to reach a sort of pure wine perception where every property of the juice in your glass unfolds neatly into a formal space of possibilities where neutral evaluation can take place?
 
originally posted by Steven Spielmann:
Grape PrejudicesI have felt that as I become a more experienced wine drinker they should go away. But they don't. I am more easily charmed by Sangiovese, Gamay, and Chenin Blanc based wines, and I can't quite get past that peppery thing in most Syrah.

Should I feel bad about this? I want to overcome my limitations. I can certainly enjoy well-made wines from any grape(s), but I wish I wasn't so immediately put off by certain fairly common tastes.

On this same general theme I admit to being suspicious of people who say they like or don't like Chardonnay. That grape seems to me to be a canvas on which the terroir and winemaker have free scope to paint. Although I guess neither make much of a mark in the majority of bottles, which may explain why people have this odd tendency to say that they like it or don't.

Do you folks who are wine bloggers, sommelliers, retailers, importers, critics, etc. still retain such prejudices? Or does steady effort allow you to reach a sort of pure wine perception where every property of the juice in your glass unfolds neatly into a formal space of possibilities where neutral evaluation can take place?
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huh? never quite thought of it that way, but I've had, with respect to Syrah, so many wines bearing that name that tasted so different, one from another, that if I avoid them it's because I don't have any idea what I'm going to get (though there is a certain fear that it's just as likely to be a big, sweet, woody hulking bozo wine without any charm at all).
 
originally posted by Steven Spielmann:

Do you folks who are wine bloggers, sommelliers, retailers, importers, critics, etc. still retain such prejudices?
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I'm none of the above, but I still don't love scheurebe.
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
Used to have issues with gewurztraminer but now I like it. Still on the fence with Mozart.
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Pinot Gris is my bte noire: it's just too ponderous and lacking in aromatics to muster much enthusiasm on my part. There are always a few exceptions, usually made by Trimbach, but it's a prejudice that I can't shake.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Steven Spielmann:
Grape Prejudices

Do you folks who are wine bloggers, sommelliers, retailers, importers, critics, etc. still retain such prejudices? Or does steady effort allow you to reach a sort of pure wine perception where every property of the juice in your glass unfolds neatly into a formal space of possibilities where neutral evaluation can take place?
Click to expand...

None of the above, but there are certain flavor profiles that I just don't really care for that much. Such as the ones that are commonly present in grenache and barbera. Though I've been pleasantly surprised by wines made from those varieties. On rare occasions.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Steven Spielmann:

Do you folks who are wine bloggers, sommelliers, retailers, importers, critics, etc. still retain such prejudices?
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I'm none of the above, but I still don't love scheurebe.
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that's because you're such a nazi when it comes to hybrids.
 
I don't hold the grapes varieties responsible for the sins of their growers.

Once you delve deeper than the most well known dozen or so, the number of varieties really increases exponentially so it becomes difficult to contemplate, especially figuring in terroirs and styles and vintages
and my mood, and my girlfriends mood, what I'm eating with it....
 
There isn't a single grape variety whose characteristics have at first put me off that I haven't encountered later under a much more pleasurable form, so I no longer have a black list and try to keep an open mind.

Then again, in many parts of Europe we don't think mainly in terms of grape varieties, since blends and terroir characteristics play such an important role in these parts. For instance, a nice cru bourgeois from the Mdoc may be 70% merlot one year (because it was an early ripening year and there was bad weather later), then 70% cabernet sauvignon the next vintage, which had a long, dry, sunny later part of the growing season. Yet there will be a stylistic permanence in both which will tell you 'this is Chteau so-and-so', and they may very well be both excellent wines... plus they never mention the blend percentages on the back label, so they don't play up to the customers' eventual varietal prejudice.
 
originally posted by VS:
Then again, in many parts of Europe we don't think mainly in terms of grape varieties, since blends and terroir characteristics play such an important role in these parts...
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Yeah, but those aren't the good parts of Europe.

Prejudicially speaking.

And I wouldn't say a focus on terroir is what distinguishes the blending regions of Europe vs. the moni-cepage regions of Europe. If anything, it would be the contrary as vineyard specificities are more highly praised in Burgundy, Piedmont, the Mosel, the Wachau, etc than in Rioja, the Languedoc, etc.
 
I feel relieved.

That's interesting what you say about Syrah, Rahsaan. I usually can tell if there's any percentage of Syrah in a wine. That pepper thing is like a red flag that cuts through everything else.

Some people around here have speculated that there's a Sauvignon Blanc aversion gene or something like that, to explain the definite percentage of people who don't like SB even though they have great palates for most everything else. I wonder if I could have something like that for Syrah. The few I have liked have usually been traditional Cote Roties or lighter-bodied ones which emphasize fruit from less-discussed European appellations.
 
originally posted by Steven Spielmann: Grape Prejudices
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Steven, My prejudice tends to be against many (most?) Australian wines, in general.

Off the cuff, I can't think of any grape that I find consistently bothersome.

. . . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Steven Spielmann:
I feel relieved.

That's interesting what you say about Syrah, Rahsaan. I usually can tell if there's any percentage of Syrah in a wine. That pepper thing is like a red flag that cuts through everything else.

Some people around here have speculated that there's a Sauvignon Blanc aversion gene or something like that, to explain the definite percentage of people who don't like SB even though they have great palates for most everything else. I wonder if I could have something like that for Syrah. The few I have liked have usually been traditional Cote Roties or lighter-bodied ones which emphasize fruit from less-discussed European appellations.
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Not a gene, but yes, there is plenty of sensory research that demonstrates:
a) people have varying degrees of overall sensitivity to flavor and aroma;
b) the flavor and aroma receptors that people have for specific molecules that trigger specific flavors/aromas (TCA, various pyrazines, terpenes, etc) vary from person-to-person.

Overlay these facts with people's personal experiences, plus notions about what is interesting/hip/prestigious/expected from various wines, it's almost inevitable that most experienced wine tasters will harbor some prejudices against specific varieties. Or regions. Or vinification techniques.

P.S. I have yet to taste a French-American hybrid red that I really like, although some have been OK. To me, there's a "toasted plastic" flavor in the finish of many of these wines that I just can't shake. I share Mark's opinion on the vagueness of Pinot Gris; although I still like quite a few of them from Oregon and Alsace, I won't go out of my way to taste or buy them. I'm surprised you aren't bothered by the pepper note in Cote Rotie (which I love BTW); I think of it as a classic identifier for Syrah from cooler climate vineyards.

Christian
 
From here:

Whereas most of the sensory panelists were sensitive to rotundone, approximately 20% could not detect this compound, even in water, at the highest concentration tested (4000 ng/L). Thus, the sensory experience of two consumers enjoying the same glass of Shiraz wine or sharing the same meal seasoned with pepper might be very different.
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