The Wine Thread

[TheRiddick]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Any "expert" should know that acidity is what makes for long term aging, not tannin.

What I found interesting from this tasting is that Bourdy says that wine cellars should have seasonal temp swings if you want to age wine a long time. Their cellar goes from freezing to 60 degrees and that steady temp cellars do not age wine for a long time (30+ years) as well.

You're preaching to the choir here, Moses. I was lambasted by the self appointed experts, both consumers and pros, when I pointed out that it is the acidity and not tannin that preserves wine after Jancis Robinson made a statement that tannin is the main preserver. Pointed out a good number of wines, as examples, that don't even see oak, or are aged in very old barrels that are more than neutral, whites that age much longer and better than those using new oak by the simple fact of built-in acidity. Same thing when I took Parker to task on the subject, his arguments fell apart as I took them all down, one by one. No matter, I was the villain in the argument and no matter how stupid and ridiculous Parker's arguments looked his sycophants ran with them as they defended his POV. Still do if you ask them. But Parker and Robinson are not alone, I deal with supposed pros (retail and restaurant buyers) that think same way they were taught never asking the right questions and blindly following what "books say".

Champagne is the perfect example here: No oak aging, plenty of acidity and built-in ability to live and age for a very, very long time.