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Is wine fake?

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Re: Is wine fake?

#221

Post by radicaldreamer »

sbf501 wrote: post #21
metadat wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, wine "quality" is entirely subjective. I've not found much correlation between price and whether I will like it or not. The only safe bet is that if it tastes too strongly of vinegar, probably people won't like it as much. But some European wines (Spain and Italy) intentionally produce wine with a non-negligible amount of vinegar taste. I know of a single maker that only puts out wines that I consider g…

> The thing is, wine quality is entirely subjective. The article says it isn't. And I agree. Go buy a two-buck chuck at Trader Joe's, and a $50 Chateauneuf de Pape from 2018. One is an acrid, acidic fruit punch, the other is a balanced soft tannin delight. I guarantee your palette can tell the difference, or your money back. :)

The chuck is the "delight"

Re: Is wine fake?

#222

Post by int_19h »

coding123 wrote: post #125
spockz wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem very experienced at wine and food, so I hope you know this. I can taste a wine and like it just fine if I haven’t eaten or drink anything else. But if I eat anything, even just the tiniest bit, the wine to me just becomes sour and I can only taste the alcohol. This completely ruined wine for me. Is this common?

whoa that is weird. When I taste wine these days, I can ONLY taste vinegar. I'm not even sure why that is.

Some people have hypersensitivity to some particular taste. I'm oversensitive to bitterness, and basically can't drink beer at all, and only the sweetest wines (late harvest, icewine and similar) are actually enjoyable.

Re: Is wine fake?

#223

Post by heckelson »

Even though wine snobbery might be fake, that shouldn't minder your enjoyment of wine! Drink what's tasty and have a good time enjoying wine together (or alone if that's your jam)!

Re: Is wine fake?

#224

Post by scrumbledober »

jcadam wrote: post #154
p1necone wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The secret is that a lot of cheap wine is pretty darn good. I imagine there's somewhat of a correlation between price and quality, especially at the absolute bottom end of the pricing scale. But it's a very loose correlation.

Quantity has its own quality :) ...except Franzia, which sucks. For those among us who have recently been laid off - Bota Box Nighthawk Black is a decent/drinkable red if you're on a budget.

I recently picked up exactly this, not caring much what I got since it was destined for a pot of mulled wine. I had some of it and was pretty surprised how delicious it was untainted by spices and honey and brandy

Re: Is wine fake?

#225

Post by atkailash »

int_19h wrote: post #209
Bayart wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's common wisdom in France. If you're paying more than 20 euros for a bottle, it's probably already too much. And it's very common for people to buy in bulk at the favour of seasonal discounts or from the producer. If you want to look smart at a dinner party, bring a bottle of something nobody's ever heard about that's remarkably cheap for what you get.

This depends on the specific kind of wine you're looking for, surely? It would be hard to find icewine for 20 euros, I'd think.

And 8 euro wine at Monoprix is better than some >$20 I’ve had in the US. My guess is in France competition is so high and it’s easily sourced that prices don’t necessarily correlate as closely to quality as it does in some other markets.

Re: Is wine fake?

#226

Post by heckelson »

dahfizz wrote: post #63
nkrisc wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think I could ever tell two different coffee varieties apart, but I can definitely tell good coffee from bad coffee. Though that’s probably mostly about the roast and freshness more than anything. So there’s probably something to it but I imagine most of it is unintentional bullshit.

I got gifted a coffee subscription recently, and I was actually surprised how different each coffee was. I think almost anyone could tell the difference between different coffees side by side. I just don't think people are super focused on the coffee flavor when they drink their regular brew.

I've also heard that if the coffee is too hot, the flavours don't come out completely (heard it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-iNAyu-ejo), so maybe that plays into it too?

Re: Is wine fake?

#227

Post by SergeAx »

acchow wrote: post #162
antognini wrote: post #49

One of my professors in grad school was really into wine and every couple of years he would put on an after-hours wine tasting class for a semester. One of the points he made was that there are absolutely wines which are objectively better and worse and that experts can reliably tell them apart. He had met enough experts who could identify a vineyard and vintage blind to know there was something to it. But sitting on…

> But unless you're seeking out that particular flavor profile It's not just seeking out a particular flavor profile. If you want to experience something novel for your mouth and you've been drinking only $20 bottles for years, you will never encounter anything new. But if you try $100 bottles, you're much more likely to accidentally discover something new (whether you like it or not is subjective) Continuously searc…

> But if you try $100 bottles, you're much more likely to accidentally discover something new

You would get the same effect with $5 bottles, wouldn't you?

Re: Is wine fake?

#228

Post by chrisseaton »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #213

Two scientific points to bring up about this article: 1. When the author talks about Coke vs. Pepsi, he comes to the conclusion that the reason people prefer Pepsi in blind taste tests but Coke in unblinded ones is "Think of it as the brain combining two sources of input to make a final taste perception: the actual taste of the two sodas and a preconceived notion (probably based on great marketing) that Coke should t…

A joke in the UK is that the unofficial slogan of Pepsi is 'yeah fine whatever mate' because when you order Coca-Cola in a pub and they (for some reason) stock Pepsi instead they always have to ask 'is Pepsi ok?'.

Re: Is wine fake?

#229

Post by femto »

cwkoss wrote: post #165
femto wrote: post #78

It's fun to do a "blind tasting party". Get a bunch of friends to each bring a bottle. Maybe give a criteria, like a price range, so people don't feel obliged to impress with the price tag. All bottles are delivered to the kitchen at the beginning of the night, where the host puts each in a numbered paper bag. Each attendee gets a score sheet. Start serving, either by pouring or just putting a few bottles on the tabl…

A fun variation on this is to provide two bottles. Cover the labels with sheets of paper. Pour everyone a serving of each (different color cups works best), and tell them that one bottle costs less than $10, one costs $95. The group will taste and discuss and usually reach a consensus on which wine is the better wine. Ask if anyone disagrees. Then, you reveal that both bottles were filled with the same boxed wine. It…

The nice thing about the party is that everyone is in on the joke and they are in it together. They know from the beginning that there are going to be surprises and much of the conversation is around this. The host can avoid an advantage by putting the bottles into blank bags then getting someone else to apply the numbers.
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