Wine Must Change

[Craig Camp]

An Internet survey of 4,300 wine lovers so far for WineVision has found that 65% of the female respondents dilute their coffee with cream and sugar and like salty snacks, indicators of a dislike of bitter tastes, WineQuest's Tim Hanni told the group.

[malachi]

Do more than 35% of women express an interest in drinking or buying wine?

[beans]

I'm always skeptical on marketing research statistics. "65% of the female respondents" could be 4 women!

I like my coffee dark and strong.

[tommy]

I'm always skeptical on marketing research statistics.  "65% of the female respondents" could be 4 women!  

only if 6.15 women responded.

Edited July 21, 2003 by tommy (log)

[KNorthrup]

Milk, never ever sugar. Starting to wonder about bitter though. What would be some good examples? Every time I try to think of some on my own, worry about confusing with sour.

[beans]

I'm always skeptical on marketing research statistics.  "65% of the female respondents" could be 4 women!  

only if 6.15 women responded.

Never trust my math But the point remains!

[tommy]

Never trust my math    But the point remains! 

i'll let you go...this time.

i've tried to read this article several times and i still have no effing clue what the author is trying to say. and, is wine ever bitter?!?!?

for me, coffee gets a bit of 2% milk. no sugar, as i'm sweet enough already.

[fresco]

'While wineries should focus on making such affordable approximates, they should try to rise above the common perception of wine as snooty. Jeff Rahn, manager of brand marketing for Round Table Pizza, told the audience how the company capitalized on the consumer flight to premium brands and interest in the Napa lifestyle with the launch in the spring of the Napa pizza with special ingredients.

"This is a $13 pizza people can buy and think they are living the high life," he said.'

The gilded age, one slice at a time.

[beans]

for me, coffee gets a bit of 2% milk.  no sugar, as i'm sweet enough already.

[tammylc]

i've tried to read this article several times and i still have no effing clue what the author is trying to say.  and, is wine ever bitter?!?!?

Agree with you on the article - very poorly written.

Re. wine being bitter - I have had a couple of Gewurztraminers that have had a bitter finish. I noticed it and disliked it, while other people thought it was fine. Don't know where I fall on the bitter spectrum, though - I don't like coffee, but love dark chocolate.

Edited July 22, 2003 by tammylc (log)

[Bux]

I find really good coffee has a slight chocolate overtone. Naturally, I'm talking about espresso. To my taste, there's no such thing as really good non-espresson.

[Pan]

Never trust my math    But the point remains!

i'll let you go...this time.

i've tried to read this article several times and i still have no effing clue what the author is trying to say. and, is wine ever bitter?!?!?

for me, coffee gets a bit of 2% milk. no sugar, as i'm sweet enough already.

Alcohol is bitter, but its bitterness can be counteracted by sugar and other tastes. I find most dry wines too bitter. I also can't drink coffee at all because it's too bitter, though I can eat things with coffee flavor, if it's not really strong. But I like bitter melon in Chinese dishes. Go figure!

[KatieLoeb]

Oh - sorry. I thought it said "Women ARE bitter"

Article is silly and doesn't really make it's point too well.

I like my coffee blonde and sweet, or even dark and sweet, like my men!

I LOVE bitter chocolate. I don't like acrid aftertastes, for instance tonic water. Yech! And I don't mind "bitter" overtones in my wine, as long as the rest of the wine is pleasing.

[Andre]

I find really good coffee has a slight chocolate overtone. Naturally, I'm talking about espresso. To my taste, there's no such thing as really good non-espresson.

Unless we chew on the beans themselves of course.

[tjaehnigen]

I know this is off-topic, but somebody started the coffee-talk. I have been called an infidel and heathen for drinking my coffee with milk or cream (I never add sugar). These same coffee purists say it is OK to use sugar, which I think completely changes the taste of the coffee. Anyone else been raked over the coals for pouring milk/cream in their coffee?

[tommy]

Anyone else been raked over the coals for pouring milk/cream in their coffee?

i never allow myself to raked over the coals in matters of taste.

[Bux]

Espresso with sugar is what I want after dinner, and that's the accepted preactice in France, Italy and Spain, but that doesn't stop people with whom I dine from ordering cappuccino after dinner. My wife often likes her after dinner espresso, machiato or cortado. On the other hand, the "proper" breakfast drink is a very light cafe au lait in France, but I still like an espresso for breakfast. I've made a deal with the world. I don't rake them over the coals for adding milk after dinner and they don't piss on my breakfast espresso.

In a cafe in Galicia once, where almost everyone seemed to be having a late afternoon cafe con leche, my wife insisted I try hers. In spite of my preference for cafe solo (espresso) I thought her cafe con leche was incredible. Should I take up residence in the area, it wouldn't take long to develop a craving for that version. To a great extent coffee drinking customs are as local as any other eating habits. I don't understand how anyone could drink coffee with lunch or dinner. For that matter, I don't even like it that much with breakfast and don't like it with dessert. Any restaurant where the waiter assumes I will have my coffee after dessert gets points. Nevertheless, many Americans drink coffee with meals. I'm always amused by how French waiters and Air France stewardesses deal with the request, when they are expecting a wine order -- just to get back on topic in this board.

Aside to tommy regarding matters of taste: I notice how deftly you handle those comments on your t-shirts.

[StephenT]

Well wine already has changed hasn't it? It's changed into White Zinfandel. It's changed into Chardonnay so buttery that you could put it on toast. It's changed into reds that taste like Vanilla Coke and Cherry Coke mixed together. So the article's a bit behind the times in that respect.

As for bitterness, maybe he's referring to tannin? There are some wines that have a bitter finish though - with a taste of bitter almonds or olives. Some Italian whites have that quality. It makes them go well with food, which is what they're for. Unlike the types of wines I mentioned above which go really badly with food - a disappointing trend.

[tommy]

i still don't think wine is a drink that would be characterized as being "bitter". although the article doesn't actually say that. again, i'm not sure what it says. something about coffee or something.

[StephenT]

i still don't think wine is a drink that would be characterized as being "bitter".  although the article doesn't actually say that.  again, i'm not sure what it says.  something about coffee or something.

Yeah it says some really random things. And it's written by someone called QUACKENBUSH.

[Sparkitus]

is wine ever bitter?!?!?

Yes, because of tannins (but you knew that). That's why Merlot is so popular.

[328tina]

I always find it hilarious when those who drink their coffee "black" think themselves superior to people who don't. Does that make you more "manly" or something?

I'm definitely in the "milk, sugar and salty snacks" camp, but I don't know what that says about my taste in wine. Do I prefer sweet wines and buttery Chards? Nope. I love all types of wine, from big, hairy tannic Cabs to luscious dessert wines.

[Lady T]

I'm with you, Tina, and with some seafood preparations I will even reach for that buttery Chard.

[Loris]

These are the wines the 100% of my girlfriends loved to drink (even with roasts):

Lambrusco Grasparossa Dolce (Sweet Lambrusco)

Malvasia Dolce (Sweet Malvasia)

Brachetto d'Acqui (Sweet red from Piedmont)

Vinsanto (Sweet white raisin)

Moscato d'Asti (Sweet white)

Asti Spumante (Sweet sparkling white)

so at the restaurant I always order at least 2 bottles...

[davidbdesilva]

Personally, I've never tasted a wine that I would call "bitter". Even in big tannic Italians I taste the underlying "sweetness" of the grape. But I think as one drinks wine more and more often, or a type of wine more often, the so-called "bitterness" goes away and other more subtle tastes come through. But then again, maybe that's just me.

And as far as coffee goes, I have noticed that "I drink my coffee black and don't spoil it" attitude in some drinkers. Personally, I must have half and half (milk dilutes coffee and makes it weak IMO) and never sugar. Though I prefer my espresso with nothing but a lemon peel (the Sicilian way?).