13 April 2022
I suppose everyone has a criteria for what their favourite grape variety or wine is. At the very least one has a collection of preferred characteristic common denominators, that when a substantial enough are met, it meets with you overall approval. I suppose on the absolute lowbrow end of assessment, one might also find that if the style of wine is pleasing from the upper echelons to the plonk at the German discount supermarket, then this might be your wine. Mind you, we are speaking in terms of favourites, not in terms of the quality of the wine. There is a huge distinction here, that I feel needs addressing. Truly great wine is a product of many things; the vine, the vintage, the terroir (look it up), the weather, etc. However, on the professional evaluation end of this, what makes a wine great is very high marks in the following categories; complexity, balance, and a long finish, all bundled within what is usually called typicity, which is apparently not a real word, as this dictionary has given me a disapproving red underscore. This means the wine is behaving within the boundaries of what is typical, what is expected of this particular wine. For example, a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley should not be sweet. Even if it is tasty, it is failing in its efforts to be typical of the style from this region.
I have heard overzealous sales people in grocery stores and such say to amateurs “well, hon, a wine is great if you like it.” This is bullshit. However, it is also bullshit to insist that someone likes a great wine because it is great. For example, you can place before me a top shelf Alsatian Gewurtztraminer, perhaps a 99 pointer, from the very best single vineyard, made by the master of this grape, and I will say “Indeed, that is an excellent Gewurtz, please take it away before I vomit.” Why? Because I do not like the characteristics of that grape. Just as I would drop my last penny on white truffles because I love them, but my mother would rather eat raw Victorian sewage than join me in this binge. Although truffles are exquisite, their value only applies if you like them. There is a great scene in Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet, where a young officer takes a bottle of rare Scotch to a Maharani as a gift. She has a fit because it tastes, well, like Scotch. She demands he try it and describe it. She says “Taste it, the taste is as bad as the smell!” He replies, and I’m not quoting here, “It has a rich smokey nose, which is part of its charm, to those who like it.” Anyway, the point here is you can love a shit wine, and you can hate a Wine Spectator Top 100. One’s personal preferences have little to do with a wine being good or bad. In Sauvignon Blog, I intend to talk about Sauvignon Blanc 99% of the time. As I said in the About section, perhaps I am just lazy, or thick, or a true minimalist (very true in all facets of life), but I just couldn’t see myself tackling the thousands of grapes and tens of thousands of kinds of wine on this whacky planet.