Wine Blah Awards ~ Breaking From the Pack
Notes from a few wine pro’s, all of us thinking less about awards and more about a rewarding experience.
of Neil Rosenthal Wine Merchants,“I went to a tasting recently of an Italian importer that I respect very much… I left a bit concerned. I could see a lot of higher alcohol, over-extracted wines creeping into the mix of wonderful terrior driven wines. Pinot Noir should not burn your nose, why must Merlot and Syrah continue to show its head in Tuscany and as interesting as Sicily can be (where are you Nerello) why does Australia pop into my head more often than not. Thankfully there are great zones and producers in Piemonte that still made me smile. And drinking a wine or two from Alto Adige and being transported for a split second to a montain top in the Alps keeps hopeful that all is not lost to a homogenous wine world.”
Over at , he has a few things to say about it as well, this in regards to Sicilian wines. “I would simply like to see the direction change some, away from the international style, because we have lots of Merlot, and even more Chardonnay to choose from, and there’s also an abundance of deftly oaked red wine out there too…While it may be more difficult to sell well made traditionally made Sicilian wine at the outset — there is a “what’s this? reaction on the part of consumers new to it — well-made traditional Sicilian wines do enjoy a devoted following that will not be drawn astray by the introduction of yet another international wine from a new wine-producing region. Staying in the pack is more predictable, and may feel safer, but one is still a member of the pack.”
David Anderson at calls out the Designer wines, saying, “The disadvantages seem to be that while these are generally great everyday wines I have not found a “knock your socks off” wine. Additionally the designer wines are young, making their appearance in the early to middle 90s. It is not clear how they will age.”
We in America have pretty much run aground in our pursuit of a bigger, more powerful, more oak, more alcohol, more extraction, higher score, more gold medal madness. It’s all about success, victory, the Oscar for biggest wine, loudest blog, most popular animal organ.
For my part, I want to nominate that comes from sleepy little villages that taste of a time and a place that is unique to that very place. I’m taking the next train to rustic, primitive lustiness.
That’s how I will run from the Wine Blah’s in this moment.
I’m currently in the wine trade and I get sooo much wine come to my desk that tastes the same , I’m awash in mediocrity. That’s why when I taste a wine that is carefully and thoughtfully made , it soars, and it’s an easy choice to make. With so many new outlets for cheap wine we will continue to see the overblown and watered down, but hopefully there will still be a market for the wines of place that we have grown to love. Let the masses have their yellow tail , it leaves more of the good stuff for us.