Do Tasting Notes Have any Value?
Friday, 22nd March, 2013
- David Farmer
I receive a small trickle of mail from customers commenting about the wines we sell and they also ask other questions. I have listened attentively to customers for many decades so I know pretty well the type of issues that are likely to be raised. Recently though I received this mail:
"What has me perplexed, as someone who has had long enough trying wines good and no so, and aware that what tickles the buds of one can sour the face of another, is that there are no tasting notes on your site. Or more usefully, tannins, acidity, nose, cellaring potential etc."
I have not been asked this before and as it so happens I have been thinking about the meaning of tasting notes for some time. Here is an extended version of my reply and I will return to this interesting topic...
Decades ago I came to the conclusion that tasting notes served no useful purpose. At best they mislead as much as they help. With that said there is a section on the Glug site called 'On Tasting', going back to 2004, which is full of detail about what we know about the accuracy of tasting and the multiple pitfalls. Currently the alarming evidence suggests that people are most happy with a wine when they pay a lot for it.
I have joked for years that what customers want is Grange for $10 but alas have formed the view that only a few would know it anyway. It's best they pay $600 and treat it as a special experience.
I have been writing catalogues and the like since 1976 so I have seen a lot of evidence as to what helps a customer make a choice about what to buy. Decades ago I began to see a tasting note as an easy cop-out and if you have 40 wines to write about, the descriptions very quickly turn to rubbish. My nightmare would be to write 100 notes about Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from the same vintage. Even in the hands of the best copy-writer, they would all be meaningless.
Thus on the Glug site we might have 30 Barossa shiraz; and to think tasting notes, which by definition would have to be similar, could guide any customer is simply silly. The customer may think one note reads better than the other but I'm afraid this is not how they would see the wines on the tasting bench should they do the same tasting. What I write gives the customer the useful detail they need, as do the very long back label notes.
In coming to this view I was greatly influenced by the Burgundy notes of Clive Coates which I subscribed to for many years. I do not have his notes handy but they were very brief. What you believed in was not the notes but the man and his opinion as to the top producers.
Frankly it's no different with Glug. Buyers have to trust that David and Ben know what they are doing. If after a few purchases they disagree with Glug selections they will drift away and buy wine elsewhere.
I go to numerous sites and read lots of wine journals and quite frankly the wine notes constantly confirm my view that they should not bother.
Now consider your request. Two of the things you want can be measured, tannin and acid but do you really think you have the science which can make sense of them. Aroma is in the eye of the beholder and what a lot of BS people write and as for cellaring well that depends on how good your cellar is. In a cold cellar a cheap wine will keep and change but for the better-who knows. There are no cellaring times and you should know that. It is up to the buyer to monitor the stock by opening bottles. Anyone who says 'will cellar for 10 years' is just inventing a figure. And another thing, keep an eye on the price as we have wines over $20 which may well repay cellaring. Paying less than that and thinking they will be better with prolonged cellaring is not a good idea. Incidentally I prefer all wine much younger these days and most other people do as well.
Let me make my point with another illustration as recently a customer wished to know whether a chardonnay was oaked or un-oaked. I had mentioned it was a distress parcel from a small boutique and would have sold for $30 plus it was overworked. From this if you know wine; you know the wine has been in oak. But it is also the wrong question. If I said the wine was oaked or un-oaked does that help the buyer? At the Glug bargain prices what you believe in is my view that the wine is enjoyable for the price. Anyone that has developed a palate that says, I only drink un-oaked chardonnay has lost me. Does that mean they would never drink Montrachet? They ask a question that gets an answer which is no help. To repeat what they want to know is simply this; is it a good wine for the price?
Glug wines are mostly regional specific thus they come with a tasting note-the location. One good bottle of Barossa Shiraz tells you what any other will taste like. The warm to hot climate sets the major tastes. The weather alters each vintage but not by much. Thus what you are buying is Glug. And what a customer should ask is, are they any good at finding well priced, tasty wines?
When a wine is not to type I state that. I also say whether a wine is sweet as that type of information is needed.
Next time you open a wine, please write a tasting note, and keep this up for a few weeks and then tell me if they are of any value. I'll tell you now, even your own will have little meaning and none at all after 12 months. Perhaps notes by the greatest professional like Broadbent and Parker provide a record going forward but all the rest will end up in the junk file where they belong.
I also believe that the best of the U.K. wine merchants who have been dealing in Bordeaux for multiple decades write helpful notes when discussing the wines of a single vintage as they add nuances and reflections that may be of help. Remember though without the name of the wine and the price what use are even these notes. And never forget these writers have a vested interest in the outcome.
And that of course is the rub. When studies show us that a blindfolded person is uncertain if the wine is white, rose or red; or that when white wine which is coloured with a red dye it is described by professionals with words relating to red wines you must begin to wonder.
And here is a test I have done on myself. Take 12 wines of a similar type, e.g. cabernets from Coonawarra of recent vintages. Now let someone shuffle the wines around and see if you can match your tasting notes back to the wines.
I hope these thoughts are of help, if not you at least know a little more about my reasons for not writing tasting notes. What Glug does particularly well is sell good tasty wines at low prices, and tasting notes will not help in making buying decisions.
|
|
Which is Better - Young Wine or Aged?Wednesday, 27th August, 2014
John Moody and Brave or Foolish Judging by Winestate September/October 2013 : Part 2.Monday, 21st July, 2014
My Replies to Frequently Asked QuestionsSunday, 22nd June, 2014
John Moody and Brave or Foolish Judging by Winestate September/October 2013 : Part 1Thursday, 1st May, 2014
Tastings Wine Scores and Shapley ValuesThursday, 27th March, 2014
Views on Tasting with Penfolds Notes for the RecordThursday, 27th February, 2014
Broken Glasses, Tasting Cups, Chinese Misadventures and TailgatingThursday, 8th August, 2013
A Wine for RichardMonday, 5th August, 2013
Morrisons - Never Fail Method for Buying WineTuesday, 9th July, 2013
Writing Tasting Notes about Great WineWednesday, 2nd May, 2013
Is a Tasting Note Helpful when Shopping?Wednesday, 24th April, 2013
Do Tasting Notes Have any Value?Friday, 22nd March, 2013
The Five Secrets of Stylish Women Applied to Drinking WineTuesday, 12th February, 2013
Playing the 'Hit Me' Wine GameMonday, 10th December, 2012
A Response to an eBay Customer About Barossa CabernetMonday, 27th August, 2012
Starting a Cellar and General Thoughts on Ageing Wines - The Experience of a Hardcore Wine CollectorMonday, 20th August, 2012
Starting a Cellar and General Thoughts on Ageing WinesWednesday, 18th July, 2012
Do Tastings Protect the Brand Image of Wine Australia? Tuesday, 17th April, 2012
Do the Waitrose Taste TestSunday, 26th February, 2012
Wine Writers Misleading CustomersTuesday, 10th January, 2012
Steps in Becoming a Wine SnobSaturday, 10th December, 2011
A Morning at the Mount Barker WA Wine ShowSunday, 20th November, 2011
Natural Flavours from Wine and Beer YeastsFriday, 26th August, 2011
Status in St Emilion Raises IssuesSunday, 24th July, 2011
What Should You Pay for Great Wine?Sunday, 15th May, 2011
Gordon Ramsay Says "Consult the Sommelier" - Is He Right? Tuesday, 13th July, 2010
Driven to Drink - A Reflection by Frank DevineFriday, 25th June, 2010
The John Vickery Leo Buring Tasting 1997Monday, 24th May 2010
Tasting Budget Reds in LondonTuesday, 27th April 2010
A Rosemount Story from Tesco UKTuesday, 23rd March, 2010
Descriptions of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from Unexpected SourcesTuesday, 23rd March, 2010
Sadat X Amusing? Yes. But Not Yet a Challenger to Robert ParkerThursday, 18th February, 2010
Tasting the Latest Noon WinesFriday, 5th February, 2010
The Barossa Wine Show Public Tasting 19th September
Part 3 of the Barossa Tastings
Monday, 4th January, 2010
The Power of GoldWednesday, 25th November, 2009
First Write the Review then Taste the WineWednesday, 25th November, 2009
The Artisans of the Barossa 12th September Part 2 of the Barossa TastingsFriday, 30th October, 2009
The Whites do go Better With FishFriday, 30th October, 2009
A Parker Tasting Should Make Us PauseTuesday, 13th October, 2009
Why You Drink Champagne by the SeaThursday, 8th October, 2009
Tasting at Three Barossa Wine Shows
Part 1 - The Small Winemakers Show
Sunday, 4th October, 2009
It's In The Bubbles, StupidFriday, 2nd October, 2009
How Good is Your Palate?Monday, 21st September, 2009
Another Know All Wine WankerMonday, 21st September, 2009
Further Thoughts on the Australian Wine Show SystemThursday, 3rd September, 2009
Wine Advice from CraigslistThursday, 3rd September, 2009
Comparing Wine Types and Dog BreedsSaturday, 1st August, 2009
Electronic Experts Give Wine AdviceMonday, 15th June, 2009
In Search of a Holy GrailMonday, 5th May, 2009
The Gimblett Gravels Travelling Road Show Surprises LondonMonday, 20th April, 2009
The Beauty of the Five Point Judging SystemThursday, 26th March, 2009
Ideas for a New Wine Judging ScaleThursday, 12th March, 2009
The First Growth GimblettsMonday, 26th January, 2009
The Story of One Lonely BottleFriday, 26th December, 2008
The Future of Capital City Wine ShowsFriday, 5th December, 2008
The More You Spend the Better the TasteFriday, 2nd May, 2008
The Key to Tasting WinesFriday, 11th April, 2008
Buying Wines That Have a Sense of PlaceFriday, 11th April, 2008
What Are We to Make Of Wine Tasting NotesMonday, 4th February, 2007
Study of the Label Alters Our TastesSunday, 9th December, 2007
One in Five Cannot Smell Alpha-ylangeneMonday, 24th September, 2007
Charles Must Love ItFriday, 24th August, 2007
Liking Rough RedThursday, 28th June, 2007
The Ultimate Masked BottleFirday, 24th May, 2007
Create the Atmosphere for the Tasting Result You WantMonday, 19th March, 2007
Confessions of Wine Deceit, Other Deceptions and Fooling YourselfMonday, 29th January, 2007
Two Sides of the Wine CoinSunday, 12th November, 2006
Wine Labels, Ranking, Ratings, Experts and Wine PricesFriday, 27th October, 2006
A Story About VerdelhoWednesday, 4th October, 2006
The Magnetic Appeal of WineSunday, 24th September, 2006
Geology Cannot be Found In WineThursday, 18th September, 2006
More on the Impact of Scoring Wines Out of 100Thursday, 14th September, 2006
How a Three Star Wine Became a 90 Point WineSaturday, 9th September, 2006
High Alcohol - The Debate Rolls OnTuesday, 5th September, 2006
So You Suffer from AnosmiaMonday, 7th August, 2006
Can’t Tell Your Brett from Oak FlavoursTuesday, 18th July, 2006
Terroir - Can It Possible Shine Through the Background NoiseTuesday, 4th July, 2006
A Little Spat Over Chateau PavieThursday, 15th June, 2006
After All This Time - Now They Tell UsTuesday, 13th June, 2006
Winemaking and the French TouchFriday, 9th June, 2006
The Judgement of Paris Part IIMonday, 29th May, 2006
Why Do Chardonnays Seldom Win Trophies?Friday, 5th May, 2006
The Other French ParadoxTuesday, 2nd May, 2006
Show Me the Chardonnay TastingSunday, 30th April, 2006
Judging Wine and the View of the American 'Wine Spectator'Thursday, 6th April, 2006
The World Versus Robert M. Parker, Part ThreeSaturday, 18th March, 2006
Halliday v Parker Continues to Attract International AttentionThursday, 5th January, 2005
"Thank You Mr. Evans and Sorry Mr. Parker"Thursday, 8th December, 2005
The Differences of Opinion Continue: Mount Mary Quintets vs. Robert M. Parker Jr. Part 2Monday, 5th December, 2005
Sharp Differences of Opinion Over Mount MaryMonday, 14th November, 2005
The Views of the Economists With a Sense of HumourFriday, 14th October, 2005
Wine Quality: Does Terroir Matter?Friday, 14th October, 2005
Thoughts on Wine JudgingThursday, 13th October, 2005
What You See Affects What You Smell and TasteTuesday, 13th September, 2005
The New Taste of WineFriday, 2nd September, 2005
Consumers Disagree with Wine ExpertsSaturday, 27th August, 2005
Drinking From Special Wine GlassesThursday, 4th August, 2005
Now, This Wine Drinks Well, Night After NightMonday, 18th April, 2005
Corks, Stelvin Caps and OxygenWednesday, 6th April 2005
A Peep Behind the Wine Show DoorThursday, 17 March 2005
Going To Your Second Wine TastingSaturday, 11th December, 2004
What You Bring to Your First Wine TastingSaturday, 4th December, 2004
What Do Show Medals Mean - Part 2Tuesday, 7th December, 2004
What Do Show Medals Mean - Part 1Friday, 3rd September, 2004
|
|