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In Randy's
Words:
It
is time for the average wine consumers, as opposed to
tasters, to speak up. The current fad of higher and
higher alcohol wines should stop. Most wine drinkers
do not really appreciate wines that are 15 -16. +% alcohol.
They are, in fact, hot and very difficult to enjoy with
a meal. About the only dish that seems to put them in
their place is a good hot, spicy dish.
I don’t believe the average person is so insensitive
to flavors and aromas that they must have a 15% Cabernet,
Chardonnay, or Pinot Noir to get the aromas and flavors.
Influential members of the wine press have lead the
score chasing winemakers/owners up the alcohol curve
and now I hope that it soon will lead them down.
Winemaking is not really much different than cooking.
The end product should be enjoyable to consume - not
just to taste. Hopefully most who read this don’t
think it’s a novel concept that we should be making
wines to consume. Would you want to sample a soup, meat
dish or other course that is so overpowering that you
cannot enjoyably finish what is in front of you? These
new wines are made to taste and spit – not to drink.
This is all linked to my views on the ever evasive and
vanishing terroir; the subtleties of terroir in wines
have been melted together in a huge pot called “overripe”
or the vogue “physiologically mature” grape.
Gone are the individualities of specific regions, replaced
by sameness – high alcohol, raisiny, pruney, flabby
wines. Likewise, the descriptor “herbaceous”
was often used in a positive sense when describing Cabernets.
Now it is the kiss of death. Voluptuous – I do
remember seeing that only occasionally, but not on the
aroma/flavor wheel.
So I would like the consumers to take the lead for a
change, rather than being led. Ask for wines that are
below 14% when you are out to dinner. The reactions
are fun, but the results are not good for United States
wines. The sommelier usually comes back with a French
or New Zealand wine. On the restaurant level, high alcohol
wines have reduced the number of bottles sold. It is
very simple arithmetic; % alcohol times volume equals
satisfaction. If % alcohol goes up, volume must go down
for satisfaction to stay the same – or else we
all get plastered.
Consumers – wake up and get active. Reviewers -please
at least include the labeled alcohol percentage in all
your reviews, and try to remember that not everyone
is spitting.
--
Randy Dunn
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