Dan’s usual E-mail lead into his Commentary’s contents this week really struck a chord:
Scores on wine have helped an entire generation of American wine buyers to seek wines made in a narrow bandwidth of style. One thoughtful wine person believes this has taught many gatekeepers the easy road to wine success: buy by the numbers. This has left truly distinctive wines out in left field.
Just a few blogs ago, I had stated that Leslie Sbrocco’s newly released, “The Simple & Savvy Wine Guide” is a true delight, because it works from adjective-based insights, versus being number driven. I also stated that statistics prove this phenomenon to be true.
Dan’s commentary is worth reading, because he’s a guy, which means that he skews the male statistics. (You can go to his Web site to read his full story via a subscription to his Vintage Experiences.)
Wine scores seem to be on everyone’s mind these days. Is a 90-score wine on my palate going to be a 90 on yours? Well, I hate fish, and I’ll always say it’s a “zero” on a scale (good pun) of zero to 10. Many of you will say that that same fish dish is a “10,” (if we have to put a number to it)… However, even though you love it, I don’t need a number to tell me that using verbiage like “Atlantic sea breeze” will make me run every time. That same descriptor might draw you right in.
Ah… scores versus adjectives… this debate will be going on for a while.
I’m just thankful that it’s out in the open, as it’s a fun topic. People seem to get really heated over this one… And it’s usually over a great glass of wine. It’s fascinating that when we enjoy wine with friends, that’s what we seem to talk about. Did you ever sit and have long discussions about your milk, Tang, juice, soda, or even beer like you do when you’re enjoying a glass of wine?
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