Re: The Wine Thread
Moses,
Bottle aging IS personal taste and preference, many love tannic wines, many don't, any don't care either way. Not so with brett and TCA, they are physical faults and there is no such thing as "little" as they only gather strength with air contact. Ask Vinquiry and what they think of either one, they are clearly wine faults wine labs are looking for first and foremost. Half the Burgundy and Oregon Pinots are bretty and I have no idea how people even consider drinking those, I have yet to find a person who prefers rotten food (and there is no other way to explain brett for what it is). Would you eat a rotten apple? Something tells me you wouldn't.
If one doesn't smell either brett or TCA when they are clearly present in wine, then all I can say is one shouldn't rely on one's nose and palate too much.
I once tasted with a CA State wine competition judge, in a blind setting, and she simply could not pick up on a bottle so obviously bretty all 4 winemakers at the table couldn't and wouldn't even taste the wine it was so foul. And yes, she voted that bottle her Number 1 in the flight (although I am not sure if she simply did that to spite us). Best known wine blogger, also at the table, couldn't pick up on the brett as well and voted along with her, but then again he rates every bottle he tastes in the 8-10 (on 1 to 10 scale) and in his mind there are no bad bottles. Too bad that too many consumers simply follow others' recommendations without educating themselves on the subject.
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