Great Wine Made Simple - Andrea Immer [31]
Quality is sometimes inversely proportional to quantity. That is because it is easier for wine growers to focus on, and make the most of, smaller vineyard plots and/or smaller lots of wine—say, a few carefully tended barrels rather than a whole fleet of super-sized vats. A good analogy is this: Think of a hand-tossed pie from your local pizzeria that is made to order versus pies found in the frozen-food section of your supermarket. The quality will be different, but so will your expectations, and the price.
Quality spans the price spectrum, from bargain to mega-bucks bottlings. For everyday-priced wines, say in the ten-dollar neighborhood, quality means a notably tasty wine that consistently stands out against similar-priced wines.
For mid-priced wines, my quality standards are especially strict. That is because these wines represent a “trade up” for most wine drinkers ready to try something new, and I say the bet should pay off handsomely. Mid-priced means different things, but for our purposes, assume from fifteen to thirty dollars in a retail store. I think most people, even with money to burn, consider higher prices a serious splurge.
For the increased price I expect complexity and balance. First, complexity. At first sip, the wine should command all your sensory attention, putting every synapse through its paces with scents, tastes, and textures. By the way, if you are not giving the wine all your sensory attention, at least at first, by tasting the way I have taught you, then the wine doesn’t stand a chance, no matter the price. Then should come balance, a pleasure plateau, much like a runner’s endorphin rush, when all your senses have risen to the occasion and you can just relax and enjoy a complete, sustained deliciousness that kicks in after the first few tastes.
For splurge wines, can you expect an out-of-body drinking experience? Sometimes, yes, these wines can be breathtaking, bewitching, unspeakably seductive (frankly, so can some of the mid-priced wines—those are the real treasures). As mentioned above, sometimes such wines may have a very unique style to which your tastes may not be accustomed, or they may need bottle age to reach their ultimate potential. As prices escalate, eventually a point of diminishing returns is reached, at least in terms of taste. This is because more than quality is factored into price: rarity (supply and demand), a high critic’s score, or a famous reputation (the vineyard or the winemaker) are some of the major features that some buyers are willing to pay more for—sometimes a lot more. That is a personal decision, for which this book and lots of tasting experience will prepare you.
The bottom line is that learning what you like will help you develop your own definition of quality. As you sample and learn more, you can expect that definition to evolve as your tastes evolve. For me, that is what makes wine so exciting.
Back to Label Terms: Words Related to Quality
Canopy management I have seen this term on the back label of a seven-dollar wine. Canopy management refers to the way grape growers trellis the vines on wires or stakes to enhance the ripening process. A good thing, yes, but on a seven-dollar-wine label? Please.
Clonal selection Another head-scratcher, even for sophisticated buyers. Grape vines, like other living things, can mutate, so the same grape variety can have multiple versions, each with distinctive characteristics