Monday, October 5, 2009

Who is really the best judge of wine?


Who is really the best judge of wine? Is it Robert Parker? Is it Janice Robinson?  Is it the Wine Spectator or Wine Enthusiast magazines? Is it the wine experts at the 5 star restaurants?

Probably none of them!

The reason why is that when you look at them… most all of them disagree with each other.
One recent year there was this big wine tasting and with 40 wines and 2 of the world’s most heralded wine tasters. They were rating on a 100 point scale.  When it was all said and done they disagreed on 90 percent of the 40 wines. Some of the disagreements were minor but 25 percent of them, they disagreed by more than 5 points.

What to make of this…

I say there can be only one true wine expert…and that is you!

Even if you think that you do not know enough about wines…Sure there are a lot of folks that know a lot more about tasting wines.

…and remember nobody has ‘your’ preference for certain flavors.  

Look...all your life you've smelled all kinds of fruits, vegetables, flowers so it's feasible that you may have developed a knack. Think about quality.... Is it balanced? Is there acidity? Is it dry? How does it finish? Is it a clean finish? Is it a bitter finish? Is it intense? Do you want to drink some more? Think of these while considering the overall 'profile' of the wine. So these are some of the relevant questions that you might encounter.

Remember this too, a wine buff can help you find wines; educate you on why things are acclaimed or particularly attractive.  Heck!  Some wines are so delicious; it’s a no-brainer. The wine buff may surely help you enjoy a wine and fill you with all the nuances and details about what you are tasting.

….but they can’t tell you what you should enjoy. You are the expert!