The Greatest Wine Ever?

[Lancelot]

As a wine industry professional I taste aprrox 2000-2500 wines a year. In the course of that year I might have 50-75 really good wines and 5-10 profoundly great wines.It is relatively easy to be critical and descriptive of the average to so-so wines but I have a problem with the really great wines. My question is this. Are the truly profound wines intellectual or emotional experiences that defy description? For example I have tried the 1985 Sassicaia 5-6 times in my life. Each time I have been at a loss to truly describe and be analytical about this wine, (some might say I simply lack discipline).Each tasting experience of this wine has thrilled me, to the point that simply talking about it makes the hair stand up on my arm.In my experience it is difficult to make complete notes about wine like this because I am so enthralled about the act of tasting! Maybe the attributes of a geat wine is that it will defy adequate description. I'm curious if other tasters have difficulty tasting great wines and keeping good notes or do you simply surrender to the moment?

[Andre]

. My question is this. Are the truly profound wines intellectual or emotional experiences that defy description?

You have answered your question well.

We seem to lack a dimension when professionally describing a really big wine. It is like showing a picture instead of a movie.

How do I know I came across a wine like that ?

I stop describing the wine and start dwelling on my own condition while drinking the wine.

I came across a Miss Cardoso at the Quinta do Estanho stand.

"May I taste your wines?”

"Please have a seat"

"I would rather stand, thank you."

The young lady insisted.

I started with the Port Quinta do Estanho 10 years old. This blended Tawny showed a concentrated nose of red fruits, fresh cut wood and sun dried red raisins.

Full bodied, very rich, and very complex with a long finish. wow !

The 20-year-old followed.

The rather gentle and smooth nose appeared rather flat on the first sniff but immediately opened up to convey layers of sour red fruits, dried fruits, herbs and spices.

Excellent acidity, very rich, very complex, extremely well balanced, slightly alcoholic with a very long finish.

As this tasting was not intended, I was beginning to sore...

Late bottle Vintage 1997.

Very rich very complex, led by a concentrated nose.

Wonderful Concentrated fruits dominated this full bodied and long wine.

Vintage port 2000:

This very dark, nearly black wine hinted at a great developing nose.

In the mouth the wine exploded into layers amongst layers of rich concentrated flavors of Venezuelan dark chocolate, fruit syrups, opening up like a peacock.

Even though this wines maturity is estimated 2035-2040 the excitement overtook my objective side in a way 16-century poet John Donne would have termed as "endless sophomoric gymnastics of the mind". I was no longer in control, the wine took over.

Being pleased at my reaction, the young lady suggested I should come back tomorrow to taste the 40-y. o.

I almost skipped the promised visit the next day being extremely tired from the amount of concentration needed from me through the very long tastings.

We only live once and I had to leave the next day. What the h ##

"Good evening Miss Cardoso"

"Good evening, please sit down"

I did not even try to convey my preference this time.

"I see that you have opened the 40 y.o."

"More than 40 y.o., shall we start?”

She meant all over again and she did.

Cutting a long story short the more than 40 y.o.:

This is the finest composition of gentle, pleasant, complex and rich I came across. I felt that any description would degrade this wine from its heavenly post where it belongs.

I ordered the wine without asking the price.

"Not for sale. It is for friends and relatives only"

"Can I be your friend?”

[Craig Camp]

First a question: Out of over 2000 wines a year you taste less than 100 you define as "really good". I can understand the small number of profound wines, but with wine making standards today I don't think it is that difficult to find really good wines - in almost any price range if you look in the right places.

Profound wines take your breath away. What's wrong with that? I don't know what more you can expect of a wine than 85 Sassicaia. Tasting is both intellectual (and disciplined) and the hedonistic pursuit of thrilling flavor experiences. When you find that Holy Grail out there in all that chaff it is bound to be emotional.

However, one person's profound can easily be another's overrated rip off. Taste is subjective because of the emotions involved. Have you ever seen the love in the eyes of a winemaker as you taste his wine together. You may think it is mediocre, but he sees the whole years struggle - in fact, his whole life struggle in each glass.

You may think you are being undisciplined and not analytical when tasting the Sassicaia. I disagree. You are just letting yourself see your truth about that wine.

Who's to argue with that.

[ctgm]

so that makes you taste an average of 6 or 7 wines every day of the year.

How many days do you actually taste - say once a week which comes down to a tasting of 50 wines at a time. Personally I find it hard to taste 50 wines subjectively and any tating notes that I make (never very poetic at the best of times) become very brief. Do you think that perhaps this could be why you find only about 50-75 really good wines as I tend to agree with Craig on this point.

Having said that I used to go to an annual Beaujolais tasting and have to plough my way through several different villages with a dozen or so examples. After a very short time I found that all of the examples from each village tasted the same and towards the end the villages all began to taste the same. Not a nice experience tasting hundreds of Bojos!!

As for Sass, I recently went to a tasting where they had 1983, 1996-1999 and I must say that I was overwhelmingly dissapointed and personally thought that this was a very over hyped wine, which was a shame as I remember ahving a very agreeable bottle of 1987 about10 years ago.

Edited September 3, 2003 by ctgm (log)

[Lancelot]

On average it probably is about 6-7 wines a day. Somedays no wine, other days up to twenty. On trade days at wine events it might be up to 100 quick tastes (Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival, Vin-Italy,ZAP). On a trip to Australia in March this year it was 505 wines and 47 wineries, I have a very understanding wife. At casual tastings with friends not more than 10 wines,(the most notable exception was a dinner where we opened 17 different bottles of Turley... the horror...the horror...)Many nights it is no wine at all.

I should define what I mean by really good wine. Really good wine is a wine that outperforms the price and has character and finesse. Unfortunately given the markup structure for wine in B.C. there are less wines that meet that criteria here than in other parts of the world. We have minimum pricing here so it's not as competitive as many of the US markets. Good wine simply performs well against other wines in it's peer group. Not good wine is merely that, overpriced or flawed.

With regard to Sassacaia I have had 85-87-90-and most vintages in the late 90's and would agree that the more recent vintages have not had the same profound effect on me that the 85 had. Perhaps paying $40 Canadian had something to do with it.

Edited September 4, 2003 by Lancelot (log)

[Carema]

How many days do you actually taste - say once a week which comes down to a tasting of 50 wines at a time. Personally I find it hard to taste 50 wines subjectively and any tating notes that I make (never very poetic at the best of times) become very brief. Do you think that perhaps this could be why you find only about 50-75 really good wines

Maybe I can speak for Lancelot here but 50 wines in one day is really no big one sometimes. You do ten at 11 am, 10 at 1 pm, 10 at 3 pm- you get my drift. And no, these are not the times for overwrought emotionally charged shelf talkers. You make an asterisk or some other such symbol to indicate interest and small terse notations about acid, tannin (if applicable), fruit character- all with price point and place of origin noted. For instance, for my 8 dollar "bargain bins" the number 8 with a circle around it indicates yes, will work for table wine. Then if the wine is to be 20 bucks you ask other questions: is there a place for this, is it weird, can I pour out a glass and see if it will last the afternoon. That is my favorite. So many things die so soon. (And no not related to my spank decanting- these are things open allready). Fruit acid tannin evolution- it all comes down to 4 basic things. I know a good one when I blush. People have asked me to come out and talk about the wine because I turn bright pink when I really like something. It is like being kissed.And I have an olive complexion so pink is not really something that happens very easily. And sometimes it is because the sales rep is hot. But that is really a rare instance. It is usually the wine......

[Craig Camp]

Having said that I used to go to an annual Beaujolais tasting and have to plough my way through several different villages with a dozen or so examples. After a very short time I found that all of the examples from each village tasted the same and towards the end the villages all began to taste the same. Not a nice experience tasting hundreds of Bojos!!

Maybe they tasted the same because they were the same - just different labels.

Not that they would do that.

[ctgm]

Craig, I think that you might have something there!! It was the Eventail des Producteurs wines which I presume may be a co-op somewhere along the line (possibly just as a sales tool rather than production tool).

Carema, my tasting notes are very brief and especially the wines that I don't like, which just get a big "X" with no explanation. I also agree that doing a tasting of 50 wines is not a problem and you can be subjective as long as you filter out (or rather don't dither) on those wines that aren't much good. Are you being serious about turning pink when you like a wine!!?

[Carema]

I do a circle with a slash when it stinks. And yes I pink up as they say.Sad but true.

[Stone]

Can someone list some wines that "take your breath away." I'm really curious. I'd love to try one.

[Carema]

One recent one is American. Fisher Coach Insignia 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon. Even my dad whose had every bordeaux vintage starting from the 40s and on freaked out about it. It is about 90 bucks or so. Then last week I loved a Fiano (Aimnea) so much. It is about 17 bucks. For awhile I was on a Lambrusco kick (Ca de Medici) about 12 bucks. JJ Cristoffell Rieslings are always worth pink cheeks. A 1997 Ducru was happiness. I guess this would be an opportunity to mention some really expensive wines and get in one of those pissing contests with everyone else. The Ramey Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay sample last week was mighty good but for 70 bucks a pop I am not sure. The finish was forever though. I think it just ended.