As you may know I try not use words to describe wines other than sweet, dry, acidic, balanced etc.in my wine reviews.Wines are made from grapes after-all and some of the comparisons used by wine writers continue to amaze me. I consider myself a fairly sophisticated food person so I think I am familiar with many tastes and flavors found in food and wine. Yet wine writers continue to use comparisons to tastes that I could never fathom. I just cannot resist sharing the following wine review from a writer for Vinous for a wine a recently tasted at the Wine Library:
"A gorgeous nose evokes saffron, moss, iris and lily-of-the-valley along with anticipations of the white peach and apple that then dominate a slightly waxy, palpably dense yet buoyant palate. "
It gets better.
"Orange rind accents and the persistence of inner-mouth floral perfume add appeal, leading to a finish of infectious juiciness, delightful levity(at well under 12% alcohol) and seeming suffusion of crushed stone." I think inner mouth floral perfume must be bad breath. Crushed stone!
Another description written by an importer :
"A hello!, linden and woodruff at first; a fine, snappy Riesling, grainy and sweetly taut; a pitted fruit nuance dances with shade-grown Sencha; this is lively energetic tasty Riesling." I only like full sun Sencha* Doesn't Head and Shoulders prevent woodruff.
We should have some type of award for 'best" wine review of the year. Send in your nominations.
*Kabusecha (冠茶?) is sencha grown in the shade to increase sweetness and relaxing[clarification needed] amino acids.[10] About a week before the tea leaf buds are picked in the spring, the plantation is covered with a screen to cut out the direct sunlight. This shading produces a milder tea than standard sencha. The shaded tea known as gyokuro differs from kabusecha in that it is shaded for a longer period: about 20 days.[11]
Special nets (kabuse) are hung over the plants to obtain a natural shade without completely blocking out sunlight. Kabusecha Sencha has a mellower flavour and more subtle colour than Sencha grown in direct sunlight. Wikipedia.
Shelf-TalkersOn a slightly different note, the Wine Spectator http://www.winespectator.com/magazine/show/id/53586 has recently been writing about another favorite topic of mine; wine store shelf notes or shelf talkers. It has been my experience that these notes are many times for a different vintage or a different wine from the same producer. Vintages can be very important and can impact the price of a wine significantly. Buyer beware.
I also question ratings of wines that are made in large quantities. I don't know how good quality control is when you are producing a 100,000 cases of wine. Beware wines that have a publications rating on its label. I have not had good experiences with these wines.
Let me know if you have any experiences with these issues.
