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TheRiddick · 02-05-2009, 12:06 PM

ALL wines have VA, by default. But some have more and some less, the more a wine has the more it is noticeable (think vinegary smells and taste). Once you start apprcoaching the 0.9% mark it becomes noticeable. TCA is just bad and in most cases it is bad corks (main reason alternative closures are gaining speed and market share). Brett is just bad. As much as I understand that a small amount of brett can sometimes enhance a wine and add to the complexity, you cannot control brett in any way.

The question and challenge I posed to Parker was to do a blind taste test, he could bring anyone he wants to along for the taste. I would place 5 (or whatever number he wanted) different wines in front of them, labels removed of course, and ALL they have to do is tell me what varietal each wine was made from. Simple test, right, for the supposed world's greatest palate?

As you can imagine, after all the chest beating Parker did up to that point, he disappeared.

Brett is just bad and one of the main faults in wine, according to any winemaking course or book. Too bad Parker put South Rhone on the map back in the 80s with all of his recommendations of seriously bretty wines and convinced wine drinkers that is what they are supposed to appreciate. Come to think of it, his early Burgundy finds and recommendations were all bretty as hell as well. Both regions are only now beginning to clean up their cellars (not all of them, of course), but its an expensive process and very costly.

VA is a hit an miss thing. Most consumers actually love the elevated VA levels, it makes the wine more "perfumy" on the nose and can enhance the tasting experience, but up to a point. Actually, if you see descriptors in a tasting note say "lifted nose" or something similar to that (soaring, elevated, jumping out of the glass as in the Martini note above) that is a clear indication of high VA levels in wine and this applies not only to Parker's notes but to others' as well.

Do your own test. Take a bottle, pour off some of the wine into glass A. Then add a very small amount of vinegar (if you have a small pippette at home, that helps) into the remaining wine in the bottle, shake the bottle gently and then pour some off into glass B. Smell them side by side. Keep adding vinegar to the bottle to see how much the wine changes as more vinegar is added.

02-05-2009, 12:06 PM	#45
TheRiddick Non-believer Join Date: Jan 2009 First Name: Greg Location: Las Vegas Posts: 943 Trading: (7)	Re: The Under $20 A Bottle Wine Thread: ALL wines have VA, by default. But some have more and some less, the more a wine has the more it is noticeable (think vinegary smells and taste). Once you start apprcoaching the 0.9% mark it becomes noticeable. TCA is just bad and in most cases it is bad corks (main reason alternative closures are gaining speed and market share). Brett is just bad. As much as I understand that a small amount of brett can sometimes enhance a wine and add to the complexity, you cannot control brett in any way. The question and challenge I posed to Parker was to do a blind taste test, he could bring anyone he wants to along for the taste. I would place 5 (or whatever number he wanted) different wines in front of them, labels removed of course, and ALL they have to do is tell me what varietal each wine was made from. Simple test, right, for the supposed world's greatest palate? As you can imagine, after all the chest beating Parker did up to that point, he disappeared. Brett is just bad and one of the main faults in wine, according to any winemaking course or book. Too bad Parker put South Rhone on the map back in the 80s with all of his recommendations of seriously bretty wines and convinced wine drinkers that is what they are supposed to appreciate. Come to think of it, his early Burgundy finds and recommendations were all bretty as hell as well. Both regions are only now beginning to clean up their cellars (not all of them, of course), but its an expensive process and very costly. VA is a hit an miss thing. Most consumers actually love the elevated VA levels, it makes the wine more "perfumy" on the nose and can enhance the tasting experience, but up to a point. Actually, if you see descriptors in a tasting note say "lifted nose" or something similar to that (soaring, elevated, jumping out of the glass as in the Martini note above) that is a clear indication of high VA levels in wine and this applies not only to Parker's notes but to others' as well. Do your own test. Take a bottle, pour off some of the wine into glass A. Then add a very small amount of vinegar (if you have a small pippette at home, that helps) into the remaining wine in the bottle, shake the bottle gently and then pour some off into glass B. Smell them side by side. Keep adding vinegar to the bottle to see how much the wine changes as more vinegar is added.