More skepticism about blind tasting

[g.johnson]

I've mostly stayed out of this....

There is a distinct train spotting element to tasting.

[balex]

On the "it's all bullshit" point of view:

 

http://io9.com/wine-tasting-is-bullshit-heres-why-496098276

 

And a retort from among other people Barry Smith

http://www.newappsblog.com/2013/05/is-wine-really-a-matter-of-taste-ht-to-barry-smith.html

 

I have been going intermittently to Barry Smith's Experimental Oenology Seminars in London which are frequently very interesting.

Hour long talk by a psychologist philosopher or oenologist -- then some wine related experiment -- then some tasting.

[SFJoe]

I don't think it's bullshit at all. If you went to UC Davis and took Ann Noble's class, you would come out of it with a common vocabulary that you could use to communicate with your fellow graduates, pace all the usual caveats about sensation. If you are in a Gallo lab in Modesto, I bet there is a rigorous common vocabulary. But i think the utility there is commercial product design, not enjoyment.

 

and it has zip to do with whether that is "melted liquorice" or "roasted purple plums" in Parker's review.

[Wilfrid]

Sure, commercial enterprises have tasting panels with rigorous methodologies and vocabularies.

 

And hey, I remember Barry Smith.

 

But mainly, you guys were right, the violet candy wine was the California Cab, Arnot-Roberts Clajeux, 2007. Of course, we didn't know there was a Cali Cab in the tasting. I rated it highly, which came as a surprise when I found out what it was.

 

The Aglianico was the other wine which stood out to me as strange, but now I see that it was a heavy molasses/rubber aftertaste.

[Lex]

Swizzels Matlow - the great British character actress.

[balex]

I don't think it's bullshit at all. If you went to UC Davis and took Ann Noble's class, you would come out of it with a common vocabulary that you could use to communicate with your fellow graduates, pace all the usual caveats about sensation. If you are in a Gallo lab in Modesto, I bet there is a rigorous common vocabulary. But i think the utility there is commercial product design, not enjoyment.

 

and it has zip to do with whether that is "melted liquorice" or "roasted purple plums" in Parker's review.

 

I agree with all this -- but for the man in the street, there contact with blind tasting is through the sort of tasting notes that are in newspapers or in wine merchants, and not the ones that have some validity. So from their perspective it is bullshit.

[SFJoe]

I don't think it's bullshit at all. If you went to UC Davis and took Ann Noble's class, you would come out of it with a common vocabulary that you could use to communicate with your fellow graduates, pace all the usual caveats about sensation. If you are in a Gallo lab in Modesto, I bet there is a rigorous common vocabulary. But i think the utility there is commercial product design, not enjoyment.

 

and it has zip to do with whether that is "melted liquorice" or "roasted purple plums" in Parker's review.

 

I agree with all this -- but for the man in the street, there contact with blind tasting is through the sort of tasting notes that are in newspapers or in wine merchants, and not the ones that have some validity. So from their perspective it is bullshit.

Oh, and I think they're right.

[Orik]

Whatever you feel about blind tastings, I urge you to book a seat at this season's sherry tasting at instituto cervantes. You may decide that you don't like sherry, but (1) you'll know you've tried the best of them. (2) it's dirt cheap for what you're tasting.

 

p.s. I think it's not even blind.

[Sneakeater]

Maybe SOMEDAY they'll hold it on a day I'm free.

[SFJoe]

There are a lot of upcoming sherry events in NYC.

[Wilfrid]

Blind tasting of Priorats and Chateauneufs last night, all from 2007 (Parker's "vintage of a lifetime" for Chateauneufs).

 

Nothing was ready for prime time. But it was interesting as a blind tasting: I've never seen such disparate scores, for the most part. The top Priorats in the tasting were loved by some, hated by others. Beaucastel doggedly made it to the top three. The winner was a $25 Priorat (and there were plenty of three figure wines in the set). The startling result was a mediocre $15 bottle sitting in the middle of the final rankings.

 

Thirteen tasters, wide range of experience, including three Spanish, no French (if it matters).

[Wilfrid]

Looking at my notes, I initially identified the $15 Priorat as a Zin (there were two wines in the tasting from outside the two regions). That may give some idea of its character.

[SFJoe]

My Noodle, you must not have come away sober, even if you spit!

 

2007s get the job done.

[Wilfrid]

Very alcoholic everyone said, yes.

 

The rumor that I went around the table draining Beaucastels from unfilled places is just that--a rumor.

[Lex]

Very alcoholic everyone said, yes.

 

The rumor that I went around the table draining Beaucastels from unfilled places is just that--a rumor.

 

We've got pictures.