Last night I had drank three white burgundies, a couple of viogniers from the Rhone, a Spanish rose, and a South African pinotage, finishing off with three Valpolicella (Valpolicelli?); a straight DOCG, next a Ripasso and finally an Amarone. Before anyone alerts Alcoholics Anonymous, this wasn't a mega evening but an opportunity to taste the last couple of inches left in bottles air freighted from the UK for the WSET Diploma exam and decanted by my own hand earlier in the day.
The white burgundies provided the most interesting drinking. All from the 2007 vintage, a Jadot Bourgogne Blanc, a Jadot Chassagne Montrachet and a Duc de Magenta Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Monopole Clos de la Chapelle showed exactly how stepping up the quality ladder in Burgundy does not have to mean lashings more oak. More concentration and intensity, more complexity and more length but not just the same wine spending longer in barrel. And all the wines retained a delicious subtlety with no obvious fruity characters and very little new oak.
My son asked if he could taste the Burgundies. He did, looked at me and said,
"I really like those, they don't have much flavour".
Strange as it may seem, I think he may have a point. At Foodtown Magazine panel tastings, readers often comment that they enjoy the wines that don't have much character as these are wines that they could imagine actually drinking. If we taste an intense wine, it is invariably described as 'strong' or 'overpowering'. And whilst the average consumer doesn't seem to like these types of wine, conversely these are the ones that are singled out by judges in wine shows and awarded medals. Wines that look impressive at first taste, but can quickly tire the tastebuds.
At the last magazine tasting, a bottle of 2008 Jacob's Creek Pinot Grigio, a wine I though would be overwhelmed by the higher alcohol, weightier more intense New Zealand Pinot Gris, was described as 'delicious and light and really easy to drink'.
Whilst I am not suggesting that there isn't a place for rich, powerful, distinctive wines perhaps every so often it is worth remembering that wine is drunk by ordinary consumers.
Food for thought.
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