Malbec

[RodalfoWalsh]

It doesnt matter. Whether or not experts can consistently rate wines doesn't change the fact that there is a huge difference between a 40 peso bottle and a 400 peso bottle.

I consider myself to have a decent pallet but I'll admit that I couldn't reliably identify an 800 peso bottle as being better or worse than a 1400 peso bottle but I can always pick out a 40 peso bottle as being cheap.

 

[Redbeanz]

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one sip and I know its a cheap 40 peso wine from a local chino// and sometimes just looking at the label.

The question is , who is investigating this guy Hodgson, who has written this article! Many times such articles and such studies are based on crap analysis and with a certain prerogative.

Maybe we need to have our own blind tasting, to give expats with discriminating palates a chance to shine?

 

[Ceviche]

It doesnt matter. Whether or not experts can consistently rate wines doesn't change the fact that there is a huge difference between a 40 peso bottle and a 400 peso bottle.

I consider myself to have a decent pallet but I'll admit that I couldn't reliably identify an 800 peso bottle as being better or worse than a 1400 peso bottle but I can always pick out a 40 peso bottle as being cheap.

I will be honest here myself. I NEVER ever drank wine myself before I came to Argentina. Back home, it was always beer or rum with coca cola. But in these years I have spent in Argentina - now it takes me just 1 sip to differentiate a 40 peso wine from a 200 or 400 peso wine.

Disclosure - I am not yet as good to make out the difference between a 400 from a 1500 peso wine. But I am sure in the new few years, I will get there.

 

[Ceviche]

If you would have read the article, you could see the published study and criticise it instead of trying to question the authors credibility...

No thanks. I dont believe such crap studies with certain agenda in mind. ( also sometimes known as 'online gossip')

 

[thorsten]

Ignorance is bliss

 

[wineguy999]

If you would have read the article, you could see the published study and criticise it instead of trying to question the authors credibility...

I read that article sometime back, and there were other similar articles published around the same time (and they continue).

I began my career in the wine business in 1984, and hold a number of certifications from various professional organizations. I consider myself a good taster, as do many of my colleagues. I can tell you which is the French Malbec, and which is the Argentino. I know the difference between New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and a Sancerre. I can tell you if a wine has a fault, and what it is. But that's pretty basic stuff, as far as advanced tasting goes.

I can't hold a candle to the people I know personally, who can tell the Mouton from a Clerc Milon in a blind tasting (the Chateaux are across the street from one another), or can consistently identify various Burgundies from adjoining villages. Can tell you which is the 2000 Beaucastel, and which is the 1998. And I know a fair number of that type of taster.

I also know a lot of tasters in wine competitions. Many are wine lovers who are friends of someone, have enough money to get themselves on a committee, etc. The article states, "[font=Guardian Text Egyptian Web']These judges are not amateurs either. They read like a who's who of the American wine industry from winemakers, sommeliers, critics and buyers to wine consultants and academics..." [/font]Okay, where are their names? If you watch the 60 Minutes story about Charles Shaw Wine (Two-Buck Chuck), you will see a panel of three "experts" taste-compare Charles Shaw with more expensive, quality wines. These "experts" are identified in the story as culinary students, look to be 18-20-year-olds, and know as much about wine as I know about Scarlett Johansson's bedroom decor. And that's the problem with such articles.

True, experts are fooled...especially when someone sets the parameters in such a way that is designed to fool. (Oh, and some "expert's" palates are highly overrated - hello, Bobby Parker.) But in an objective tasting, many people will surprise you.

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

I had also read that article back when it was published but I reread it again. I think the title is a lot more provocative than the content.

Wine tasting is definitely affected by context.

 

[Ceviche]

I have personally declined many wines after the first sip, when its served to me in the BA restaurants by the waiter.

The funny thing is that they get very surprised and sometimes the manager comes to me to protest. So i always say, what is the whole point of tasting it and forming a opinion on it - if I do not have the right to reject it.

Usually, I am allowed to taste another wine before accepting it.

One time, i rejected 4 wine bottles in 15 minutes.

 

[thorsten]

wineguy: It's out of question that there are experts with years of experience that can judge the subtle nuances of different wines very well and consistently, just like that there are musicians with the perfect pitch. However, it's an area with a huge dunning-kruger effect and most people (even self-proclaimed experts) are very biased by their expectations. Imagine you rank all car drivers by their driving skills and ask them if they are better or worse than the median driver: is it possible that a single driver is better than the median? Yes of course, and the chance is a coinflip. But you'll end up probably with 90% of the driver guessing that they are better than the median, which doesn't add up... And given your experience, I think you'll also have tried 'cheaper' wines with a very good quality while having way more expensive wines where you weren't impressed at all. The price alone is a pretty bad indicator for quality: imagine you have a winery that produces an average wine which somehow gets the first place in a lot of competitions. Demand skyrockets and as a smart business man you double the price per bottle as people are still willing to buy - now a lot of people will still say it's worth every penny, just like a lot of people are convinced their placebo actually worked...

 

[Rich One]

I hate it when people come with 40 peso wine bottles from local chino when attending potlucks or despedidas

uhmm bad choice of guests.... B)