Of Quality and Price
April 6, 2009 by Sheila Whittaker
Opinions about wine are subjective — people smell and taste things differently and enjoy different things. It’s important to find a wine that you enjoy, no matter what others may say or write about it.
That said, as an evaluator of wines (which I am studying to become), it is critical to be accurate about the quality of a wine. One needs to be able to tell the plonk from the prize and support those opinions with logical reasons.
For Day One of my latest wine snob class — Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Wine and Spirits — our teacher, Master of Wine (MW) James Cluer, chose wine in pairs and had them face off against each other. Same type of wine, but different price points. We were set to the task of tasting the wines blind and asked to identify which was which.
If you have $400 burning a hole in your pocket, run out to your nearest specialty wine shop or signature liquor store and pick up these eight bottles. Put your own wine snob palate to the test! (If not, you can read on and find out how we did in class).
If all else fails, keep in mind what Cluer told our class: “the longer you’re inclined to keep it in your mouth, the better it is.” Words to live by.
Bout One: Bubble Trouble
We were poured two glasses of bubbly and told that one was an expensive Champagne. The other was, well, not.
I got my nose right in there and gave them both a good whiff. I thought the aroma had some green apple, citrus and mineral notes. I thought that mystery wine #1 came in pretty medium in many of the things we’re taught to taste for, such as intensity of aroma, acidity, alcohol and finish.
Mystery wine #2 seemed to me to have a much yeastier and more bready nose. It was more intense to me and since Champagne is known for the yeasty notes, I pegged this one as the expensive bottle.
Nope! It was actually the other way around. Cluer did make me feel a bit better by telling a story about one time when he chose a glass of Henkell Trocken (which goes for about $15 in BC Liquor Stores) over a glass of Champagne worth hundreds of dollars in a blind tasting.
The first drink had been from Larmandier-Bernier. It is Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru (wine snob translation: first growth, top rated bubble made from Chardonnay), from the Champagne region of France and cost $93. The MW told us that it had an “elegant nose” with developing flavours of baked apple, biscuit, yeastiness and nuttiness. It had delicate and smooth, soft, creamy bubbles and a toasty taste. I took another sip and used my imagination…
But I was jotting down the details of the Dienhard Sekt (German for sparkling wine). ‘Lila’ from Germany only cost $13.49! Although I was told it was not as developed or ‘nutty’ as the Champagne, and it had a shorter, courser finish, I liked it better. It is a brut (dry) wine, but in your mouth it actually tasted sweeter than after you spit it out (or swallowed, as the case may be). Could it just be my palate sticking up for my meager chequing account?
Bout Two: Who needs a Riesling to drink?
In this blind tasting match up, mystery wine #1 was a pale, lemon green colour. A swirl around the glass showed that it had fast moving legs. Don’t get too excited guys, that means the wine didn’t stick to the sides of the glass very much, so you can guess the alcohol content is relatively low. There was a slight sweetness to the aroma, like fruit salad. There was also some citrus and Granny Smith apple in there.
A taste of #1 proved it to be dry with medium acidity, light to medium body, low alcohol and a short finish that left a fairly tart edginess with you. There was citrus, grapefruit even, and a mineral quality to the wine.
Mystery wine #2 had less of a green hue. The nose was pronounced with developing aromas including gasoline, mango, citrus, apple and a yeastiness. Once in the mouth it was medium sweet with high acid and medium body. It was a beautifully balanced wine with a long finish. Totally explosive with flavour, but still a light wine. I concluded this must be the pricier wine.
This time, I chose correctly and #2 was the higher-priced wine. The Riesling was the 2003 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr – Spatlese from Mosel, Germany. It goes for $41. The contender turned out to be 2006 Dr Thanisch Classic, also from Mosel, Germany ($23). Would I pay nearly double for the heightened experience of the Selbach Oster? If I could afford it, absolutely. Spatlese are late harvest grapes and since they’re picked later they have more time to ripen and the flavours become a lot more intense.
Quality Rieslings are one of the few white wines capable of aging. This 2003 bottle could handle 10 years in the cellar, we were told.
Bout Three: Burgundy Bargains
White Burgundy (also known as Chardonnay) was the next to pour out. The first wine had some pear, apple, lemon rind and mineral on the nose. Some of my classmates also threw out stone fruit, hazelnut and a chalky character (we are all wine snobs, you know). Once you tip this one it was fairly tart on the palate and the fruit character was a medium intensity, but fairly simple.
By comparison, the second wine was very smooth on the palate and the flavours were pronounced. It had secondary characteristics of yeast, toast and butter in addition to the lemon and pear fruity notes. It was elegant and complex. I thought this must be the one for deep pockets.
Was it ever! $105 deep! Bouchard Pere Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres – Premier Cru was the second wine we had tried. Quality French Chards are in the cellar-able club. Cluer told us that this one would just get fatter, richer and better with age.
The “cheap” wine was a 2006 Louis Jadot Saint Veran that goes for a mere $26. Both wines are from the town of Beaune in the Côte d’Or.
Bout Four: Bordeaux Beat Down
Bordeaux reds are usually a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. There are a few other grapes allowed to be grown in that region, but top houses keep to what is best known and best grown.
When these two Bordeaux were side-by-side, you could see the difference immediately in the glass. The first one was ruby-hued, but there was some dilution of the colour. The second one had a deeper core and the rim was starting to turn a bit of a brick-ish colour. When reds start to lighten like that, it’s often a sign of age. I was leaning towards #2 already.
#1 had a simple, red fruit smell. There was a bit of black current, cedar, and maybe some black pepper spiciness, but that might have been a stretch. In contrast, #2 had more ripeness and layers of aroma: blackberry, raspberry, black current, cedar, spice, leather, chocolate and an earthiness to it.
In the mouth, #1 had pretty abrasive tannins which made it a bitter sip. #2′s tannins were soft and smooth and accompanied with lovely flavours of plum, vanilla, sweet spices, coffee and chocolate. It was really well balanced and I didn’t want to spit it out!
The second wine was, indeed, the pricier wine. For $60 you could try the 2004 Le Jardin de Petit Villages, from the town of Pomerol in Bordeaux, France. This wine was actually made exclusively from Merlot, which is unique for an area famous for blends. For Bordeaux on the cheap, try a widely available 2005 Mouton Cadet for $16.
Is it Worth it to Pay More?
I’m going to take a leap and guess that we can’t afford to pay $105 each time we want to crack open a bottle of Chardonnay. There are some perfectly good Chards out there in far lower price brackets that will do just fine with your week night dinner or afternoon on the patio. But if you want to celebrate, it’s nice to be able to appreciate and recognize just how special some wines can be.
Tasting wines paired this way was an interesting learning experience. I learned that if you want a cheap date with me, you’d better break out the bubbly! Still wines seem to be where my wine snob palate shines.
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