forceberry
Posts: 901
Joined: 8/4/2017
From: Finland
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quote:
ORIGINAL: hankj
Wow we've come a long way from my assertion that bone dry big extracted reds are harsher than those that preserve a little residual sugar. You color me as something of a wine eugenicist at this point, as if my local wines and local wine industry, an industry that is essentially younger than I am, is some sort of naturally set thing that ought not be subject to suggestions about revision.
If you read carefully, you can see I've given alternative suggestions about revision. Your solution of just boosting the residual sugar just seems to me like putting a Band-Aid over a spot that hurts without trying to look into the underlying problem. And to me, honestly, trying to fix things by increasing RS seems like a very American solution. I really can't think of any other reason why the RS levels have crept up in American wines (I'm mainly looking at you, California) in the past years.
quote:
From a position, btw, wherein you"ve almost certainly never tasted a singe Washington wine, and I've tasted more than 1000 times over 30 years. That's like me lecturing a Finn about which pocket should house his vodka and which boot should hold his knife (oh not all Finn's, just like we all aren't declasse slobs with a sugary "American palate").
Yes I am fully aware that you have a lot more experience on WA wines than I do. However, I've had my fair share of (over-)extracted red wines to know how they taste like and how they behave. I've also said before that I haven't tasted the particular wine or wines in question, so I can't comment precisely the nuances, but I still can discuss pretty accurately based on overall experience. Although I am a strong believer in terroir, I don't believe that WA is a uniqorn wine region where the Syrah behaves unlike anywhere else in the world.
And the first comment on the American taste was something of a self-deprecating joke (hence the smiley), because there is also this thing what is generally called as the "Nordic taste". Year after year, the biggest bestsellers here are spoofed wines with high residual sugar that bear no relation to the country or region they come from. If you ask any wine-drinking (non-connoisseur) person whether they like dry or off-dry wines, no-one ever, in their right mind, would say that they love off-dry red wines. But lo and behold, still those wines dominate the markets here - and not just on Finland, but in neighboring Sweden as well - and if one such wine is put as a ringer in a blind tasting for entry-level amateurs, they'll love it. Every time. So I am well aware that not all Americans have the American palate, as not all us Nordics have that same Nordic palate. :)
However, I've still seen the preference of RS in the premium wine category in America. If you bring a wine with a price tag of, say, $50 and 10 g/l RS, nobody will buy it. But these kinds of wines sell ridiculously well there across the pond. So I guess people actually prefer their red wines a bit sweeter there in the US of A. Not everybody and not every time, but as a somewhat noticeable tendency. I'm more than happy to hear any counterarguments!
quote:
And beside RS doesn't change the perception of harshness in big, structured high alcohol reds anyway - Port is sweet simply so as to be more suitable for children.
Well, actually Port is sweet simply because that was the only way to keep the wine good back in the days. Well, sugar, high alcohol and blocking the MLF before it can start so the wines will have lower pH and thus be better protected against all kinds of faults. Why the Port wines are sweet has nothing to do with the tannins or bitterness, so using it as an example in this case is in my opinion a bit faulted.
I hope you don't understand that I'm not trying to antagonize you here. Besides the first humorous attempt of a joke, I'm not trying to comment you personally, but instead your assertions, i.e. I'm just trying to debunk unfounded or unscientific anecdotes and at the same time defend well-crafted wines against spoofing - but you seem to be just digging your own grave deeper and deeper, with more passion post by post. Argumentation for and against is much easier and more effective if you don't take everything personally.
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RE: Syrah.. Washington Vs. California - 
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