Reading a Wine Critique

One of the most controversial issues in the world of wine is wine review\critique. More than once I’ve seen the demand for a certain wine rise, and consequently its price, after receiving a good critique from a world renowned wine critique. This phenomenon is a direct result of “Score Chasing”. Score Chasers are those people who run and buy wines which received high scores by critiques. Nowadays critiques can be found everywhere – In magazines, blogs, forums, newspapers etc. So, how can we still enjoy reading wine critiques without being badly influenced by it? How can we prevent ourselves from becoming “Score Chasers”?

Wine Critiques – Objective or Subjective?

Can\Should we consider wine critiques as Objective? Or should the mere “Scoring” turn them, in our eyes, as subjective, as 10 points given to the scent of a wine could never be considered as an absolute fact. In my opinion – Both.

Wine critiques are both Objective & Subjective, dependent to the part of the critique we refer to. In order to explain this notation, I would first like to describe the structure of a basic wine critique. Than we can analyze which part should be considered objective and which subjective.

Wine Critique Structure

The typical wine critique includes the following parts:

• Technical Details – Name, Vintage, Varietals, Alcohol, etc.
• Additional Details – Series, Vintage, Winery
• The Main Critique – Color, Scents, Flavors that compose the wine
• The Score – A numeral representation of the critique
• Future Evaluation – Aging ability & Current status
• General Details – Additional data that does not fall under any other category

Objective or Subjective

Technical Details – technical details are with no doubt objective, and give us important information regarding the wine.

Additional Details – Most of this part will usually be objective and include additional technical information, not necessarily related to the wine itself, such as the quality of the vintage, series details etc. However, in this part it is important to notice that the writers own opinion does not find itself by accident added to the critique.

The Main Critique – This is where things get complicated, as different people have different level of senses. It is very likely that some have more sensitive senses then others. Many researches show that woman have better sense of small then man, something that defiantly assists when one analyzes a wine’s fragrance.  If so, how should we consider this part of the critique?

Even though different people have different sense levels, the major fragrances and flavors composing a wine will be noticeable to any trained taster. A given tester may small or tastes an additional flavor in a wine, but most tasters will show a general consistency on which we can build a solid critique.

The Score – This in my eyes, is the most subjective part of the tasting. Set aside the fact that different tasters have different scoring methods, even tasters how use the exact same scoring method can translate a gives flavor to a different number. At a tasting in which 2 tasters notice concentrated fruit, the first taster, how prefers concentrated flavors may give a higher score to such wine, where a second taster, how prefers more saddle tastes would give a lower score to the same verbal description, therefore this part should be considered purely subjective.

There are even more problems with “Scoring” a wine, such as – Giving wines from high valued wineries good score by default or the wish to not deviate from the score scale given to a wine by other critiques.

Future Evaluation -Even though this is the writer’s personal opinion as to the aging ability of a wine, this assumption usually relies on his experience and could be considered positively.

General Details -This section may include food matching, wine maker review, and any other information involving the wine. This information should be read carefully and you should mind whether the information is a fact or the writer’s own personal opinion of things.

Points to Consider

Personal Flavor – Even the most impressive wine critique, from a world renowned wine critique, will not make a wine more fitting for your pallet as each and every one of us has its own unique pallet. For example – I prefer wines with concentrated scents and flavors, and do not like wines in which the barrel can be noticed. Learn your pallet, examine different wines and figure out which are your favorite varietals, alcohol level, fruit level, flavors, etc.

Read Wine Critique – Preferably from more than one wine critique and then try the wine. Figure out which of the critiques was closer to what you felt when you drunk the wine. You might find a wine critique on which you can relay, maybe more than one.

Loved a Wine – Learn it – If you tasted a wine you like, learn its technical details – varietals, alcohol, vintage, terroir. Using these details you will be able to define your pallet and even locate new wine to match it.

Summery

When reading a critique, I try to figure out whether that wine discussed fits my pallet or not. I try and focus on the technical details of the wine and the description of scents and flavors, as this is the real information from which you can learn about the wine.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this issue, so feel free to drop a comment.

July’s Wine

FRITZ HAAG – Riesling 2006

The full name is – FRITZ HAAG – Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese.

This one is for the sweet wine lovers, not the most exciting white I had, mainly because it lacks the crispness other white varietals have, but it’s definitely a fun wine to drink, especially during the hot Israeli summer evenings.

Pale straw in color, the nose reveals pineapple, lychee and some citrus peel. On the pallet distinctive honey and melon are present. Another flavor revealing itself only as an aftertaste is red grapefruit, which is an interesting taste for a white wine.

Tulip Black 2005

For a while now I have been wanting to taste this wine. In most wine tasting events this wine is referred to as “Premium”, something that arouse my curiosity. This Thursday, at NG, I finally had a chance to taste it.

The wine has beautiful Bordeaux color with ruby sidelines, on the nose cherry and some roasted wood are noticed and towards the ending some spices (pepper) as well. On the pallet plum with generous acidity, and strong barrel flavors end firm tannin.

After some 30 minutes the wine transforms to something entirely different. The nose is mostly of chocolate and the pallet shows cherry chocolate and some spices towards the end.

I would not yet give this wine the credit of a “premium”, however I have a feeling the 3-5 years from now this wine will develop a very interesting character. Those with patience will enjoy an excellent, old world style wine.

Vertical Tasting – Clos de Gat

Translated Post (Hebrew)

Last Thursday, orchestrated by Michael Rab, a vertical tasting of wine by Cols  de Gat was conducted. We were accompanied by Mr. William White – the marketing manager of Masion Sichel which markets the winery’s wines abroad.

First and foremost I would like to thank Michael for organizing a fun and interesting tasting, and for Michael’s daughter for the lovely and very delicious food. Another thanks I owe to Mr. White for giving us the story behind every wine – this made the tasting so much more interesting.

The biggest advantage of taking part in a tasting held by Michael, is the access to his privet collection, in which you’ll find bottles that are not available in regular tasting let alone wine stores.

During this event we tasted 10 wines produced by Clos de Gat, and for desert we had “Mesha” by Tabor winery. This tasting event can be divided to three parts – The Whites, The Specials and the Vertical Tasting, but before I go about the tasting, a few point I came to learn about Clos de Gat:

• Clos de Gat wines are only produced from grapes grown on vineyards owned by the winery.
• Clos de Gat relays on wild yeast alone for producing their wine.
• The winery’s name is a composition of 2 languages, French – Clos (A winery surrounded by a fence) and Hebrew – Gat (A place for stepping on grapes)

The Whites

This part included 3 wines amongst the first white wine ever produced by the winery. The first wine was the youngest of the bunch, a 08 bland called Chanson. Even though this bland is considered very young it is no longer available in stores (Just run out).

Chanson 08 -This bland is composed of Chardonnay, Semillon, Viognier and Chenin Blanc. A light golden with orange shades. The nose is dominated mainly by guava and the pallet is the same as the nose with addition of a buttery finish. A light fun wine – serve it extra cold.

Chardonnay 02 – This is the first white wine ever produced by the winery, the grapes came from Ella Valley vineyards. This is the only white wine ever produced by grapes grown on vineyards that are not owned by the winery. I must say that this is a very impressing white wine considering its age. This wine is deep golden in color as suited to a mature white wine, the nose is very short and saddle, the pallet shows generous acidity and saddle bitter aftertaste and a bit of wood on the finish.

Chardonnay 07 – This one is the youngest Chardonnay produced by the winery, and to my humble opinion is not yet ready, it requires cellaring so it can build up its character. Golden in color with green shades, the nose shows lemon like acidity, on the pallet lemon and even some lychee are noticed.

The Specials

This part of the tasting included 2 of the more appreciated wine of the winery – Harel Syrah  and Sycra Syrah  (Sycra is Aramaic for bright red), both from the 04 vintage. These wine were tasted together for compression.

Harel Syrah  04 – Deep borderline opaque Purple with Bordeaux sidelines, the nose starts with wood and immediately transforms to raspberry and chocolate. On the pallet raspberry and plum with generous acidity and some spices combined with tannin.

Sycra Syrah  04 – This wine is 100% Syrah , its color is brighter then the Harel on tends towards Cherry. On the nose ripe red fruit and on the pallet mainly ripe raspberry some pepper and firm tannin, even to firm tannin. This one is not ready for drinking. I believe that a few more years of cellaring will allow the wine to become harmonic.

The Vertical Tasting

In my eyes this was to most interesting part of the tasting, as having the opportunity to taste 5 consecutive vintages gives you an excellent tool to test the way the winery, vineyards and mainly the winemaker have evolved.

Ayalon Valley 01 – This is the first harvest for this winery and the first wine ever produced by the winery. This was defiantly an excellent opportunity to see, smell and taste how it all began. This bland is composed of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes (Starting the 03 vintage Petit Verdot was added). In this vintage the Cabernet grapes came from Castel’s vineyards, the Merlot was from the Clos de Gat’s vineyards. This wine has a beautiful red color with shades of brown indicating a mature wine. The nose (Thanks to Lior for helping identify the scents) reminded me of Rioja wines mixed with some leather and some tobacco. The pallet reveals raspberry and sweet chocolate, a flavor very common among mature Israeli wines. This wine matures gracefully and without a doubt plays in the big league.

Ayalon Valley 02 – The most surprising wine! this wine non like all the others tasted that evening had something else about it, something which later on matched beautifully to Mr. White’s story about this wine. Mr. White has told us that on a blind tasting held in Europe he asked the crowd whether the believe this wine is right or left bank, the crowd was not conclusive, however no one suspected that this wine was produced outside of France. Indeed this wine shows a nose and pallet of “Old World” wines. Cherry nose with some barrel flavors. On the pallet cherry and mild plum. This wine shows medium to full body.

Ayalon Valley 03 – This is where shift occurs, and this bland takes a turn towards “New World”, where the flavors are more saturated and rough. Bordeaux color and a nose of cherry combined with spicy pepper. On the pallet a full bodied wine id revealed with rich tannin and concentrated red fruit. As a bold flavors lover, I believe that this wine should be consumed now.

Ayalon Valley 04 – To my taste this was the best wine that evening with an excellent ageing potential. Unlike his younger sibling this wine would benefit cellaring that would allow it to build up. Bordeaux with orange sidelines, full bodied with ripe red fruit (mainly plum and cherry) and generous tannin, this wine fills up your mouth with velvet like feel that lingers beautifully.

Ayalon Valley 05 – This wine resembles his younger sibling, and had stured a debate amongst the tasters, some claimed that this wine, with time, will evolve to be just like the 04, others me included believed that the 04 has more character and will evolve to be greater. Ruby color with raspberry cherry nose. On the pallet cherry and generous tannin and even some licorice towards the end.

Once again I would like to thank Michael on the beautiful initiative and to his daughter for the marvelous hospitality. Hope to see you all next time. You can find more about this tasting in Lior’s blog.

Weekly Wine Meal 7.7

This week we had a chance to try another wine from Avidan winery – Bland de Noir – Purple Tag. This wine would be a favorite amongst the fruitish wine lovers. It showed a more interesting character that the previous wine tasted from this winery.

The color is deep dark Bordeaux. Raspberry and Cherry nose that lingers nicely for a long time. On the pallet ripe red fruit mostly of plum and cherry. Towards the ending some vanilla flavors were also noticeable. This bland is in no doubt dominated by the Merlot flavors.

Fun, light and fruity.