The Official Wine Thread - Page 849

So lots of room to sneak some Syrah or other grape in to change the character of the wine without informing the consumer.

Honestly, I am of two minds. On one hand, it is odd to label wines as being a single grape while they aren't. On the other hand, blends can often improve wine, and the customer needn't know the recipe. Far too many people get caught up on the details instead of the big picture as is.

BTW, the one you said was Syrah-ed, which was quite typical during the great years of Bordeaux fwiw, is that a guess, or was it confirmed?

inky as in color?

Really? Wow, I guess they needed a kick.

Honestly this is one of those things where, in many cases, the customer doesn't know what he's talking about, so its probably a good thing. For one there are many grapes that dont belong in a bottle alone. Two, people want a fifteen-dollar Pinot with x,y, & z characteristics without having much of an idea of what it takes to grow and make a decent pinot. And I think those cheap pinots or whatever are what's getting Syrah - due to the market Syrah is very cheap in Cali ATM.

. In general I still dislike the idea but there is always a reason winemakers do what they do.
Edited by Quatsch - 3/28/12 at 11:27am

Makes a lot of sense. An employee of a wine shop that I visit frequently said he can't believe how many people come in and say they don't like blends. Seems ignorant.

so the misses loves wine. generally a red or a chardonnay. we get married next month and i want to buy a new case to keep so that we can have on our anniversaries (yes, i plan on having more than 1).

any suggestions of what i should/could buy?

Seems kind of a broad request. What kind of reds does she like?

This is not my recollection. Rather it became common in the lean vintages of the '60s and '70s but the good vintages of the '80s plus the rise of wine purists who found it appalling and complained a lot helped make the practice look low rent so the Bordelaise stopped doing it.

I meant the old great years, like the 1700s when they used to Hermitage the first growths. Did not realize they did it last century.

They did it and I think it was even illegal. It was certainly a scandal. Funny that it didn't do much good because those vintages all sucked anyway.

I think much of this is American mindset and marketing vs. French.

Americans tend to like things simple. "I like Pinots" so that person goes and buys Pinots. They also like things pure, so the market charges more for a single vineyard bottling vs a blend, when IMO often the blend is better than a maker's SVD offerings.

French like regions and styles. The grapes in the bottle are almost non-issues but that's probably aided by the French AOC planting laws.

Do I think a CA wine maker can probably make a better $15 Pinot with a little help from non-Pinot grapes? Sure thing. Do I think that for the US market not telling the consumer is a smart thing for the producer? Again, sure thing.

Matt, to the bolded? It was a DuMol RRV and it is me guessing. However, DuMol is also known for quality Syrah. If you had tried this wine I am more than sure you would make the same conclusion.

I don't know if it is an American mindset as much as it is just not knowing any better. When I first got into wine I would try to find wines based on grapes that I thought I liked the best. After a while I began to realize that the region and producer has such a greater impact on the wine and what I was going for. I think it is what separates somebody who is truly into discovering and understanding wine vs. somebody who just casually enjoys it.

Pio-

The European winemakers I know think that their consumers are no different than ours. By volume, most look for inexpensive and what they like. There is a broad stripe who are driven more by nationality and heritage loyalties - preferring right bank over left because of socio-political reasosn more than varietals or terroir, for example. And yes, there is probably a broader, more knowledgeable crowd in Europe per capita because of a much longer tradition of wine making and drinking fine wines.

so the inventory at Crush has really grown in the past month.