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Our Tasting Director, Joe Czerwinski recently wrote a post entitled “Wine Critics in the Age of New Media” about the confluence of online tasters (bloggers, video tasting sites, community tasting portals) and the print media critics i.e. those who taste here at Wine Enthusiast Magazine. He discussed the fact that wine critics need to be aware of the new media and set themselves apart from the crowd. It raised a point for me, about tasting notes.
In my view, one of the reasons that people like Gary Vaynerchuk are so successful is because they use tasting notes that people can relate to. If you’ve seen any of his wacky TV spots on Ellen or Conan O’Brien when he eats dirt and sweaty gym socks to display common aromas of Burgundy, you will understand.
In the past, wine consumers were a small elite group of people who were either accustomed to aromas like elderflower, or took pride in gathering the necessary reference tools. These days, wine is becoming democratized. Any wine drinker can have a voice by posting a tasting note on a blog or a wine review site. People don’t have to look up what a Meyer lemon is, they can use another term.
I am not arguing against these specific wine terms, they’ve become common over the years because wine is complex and 10 basic adjectives won’t cut it. Often a critic needs to get specific so the review is poignant. If every critic described white wine as having green apple and lemon notes, our reviews would be boring. But I think there should be a limit. Critics need to start considering a wider audience when they write reviews.
Though I’ve gone through my share of wine tasting training over the years, there were always a few adjectives that I was unfamiliar with. It annoyed me because I didn’t know what they were, and had a feeling that nobody else did. I’ve smelled a fair share of things and if I don’t know what something is, I wondered if anybody did. And if all we’re doing is confusing people, what’s the point? A review should be welcoming to the novice and connoisseur alike.
So with Joe’s post in mind, I would argue that wine critics, need to remember to be real with their readers. When tasting notes get too personal and uppity, they lose meaning. Nobody wants to struggle to understand a term. Wine is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not homework!
With that being said, these are some wild ones that I’ve come across. Which obscure tasting notes annoy you?
Balsam
Pineapple Custard
Baker’s Chocolate
Scorched Earth
White Narcissus
Underbrush
Meat Juice
Currant Paste
Lemon Blossom
Filed under: Wine Tasting
5 Comments
April 19th, 2009 at 3:17:05 PM
Love this post! As a wine sales rep we constantly have to make wine easily understandable
for the everyone, the consumer and restaurant staff, and would love to see wine writers
” Get Real” with their reviews so people are not turned off/confused by terminology.
Thanks!
April 21st, 2009 at 3:21:01 PM
Food Scientists have often struggled with words that mean one thing in our world and another thing in the wine world. I am still learning myself-its confusing when you don’t know what a word means, even more confusing when you think do, but turns out you really don’t
April 30th, 2009 at 4:32:01 PM
I hate seeing gooseberry. Every suavignon blanc review has it- but what on earth is a gooseberry? I’ve never tasted one, and when I started working in wine I went out looking for some so I could try it and see what it was like- never found any! If anyone has any gooseberries, please let me know!
April 30th, 2009 at 10:44:56 PM
Regarding kim’s comments about gooseberry, I must say I’m also at a loss when trying to identify this flavor. Seems to me one can scour the aisles of a natural foods store indefinitely and not have one gooseberry to show for it. I’ve succumbed to the idea that it mus be closely related to the dingleberry…just from geese. Foie gras anyone, which, incidentally, pairs nicely with Sauvignon Blanc.
June 8th, 2009 at 12:54:43 PM
Hey people! I know gooseberries… we had gooseberry bushes at our home when I was a kid. Gooseberries are round, pale greenish berries, usually 1/4 to about 3/8th’s of an inch in diameter. The best way to describe their flavor would be to say they taste somewhat like a sour grape – they are pretty tart, although if picked very late they do pick up a hint of sweetness. They even have a grape-like flesh to them. I suppose that you could describe them as having a slightly sour citrusy component to them. As a wine descriptor, I know what some writers mean when they talk about gooseberries, but I gotta say, gooseberries aren’t very good when eaten fresh and alone! They are best in a pie, with lots of sugar… sort of like rhubarb. Hope that helps!