Different Tongues - Power of Suggestion

[Bucko]

FWIW, it is generally accepted that 80% of taste is due to smell.

I personally have gone full circuit on wine judgings. I once thought that they were the ultimate, gradually drifted away from them to the point that I thought they had no merit, and have now returned to the point that they do indeed have a good deal of merit. They get people away from Carlo Rossi and into fighting varietals, then on up the ladder.

Are judgings perfect? Of course not. Do showy wines or atypical wines often win medals? Yes. Do wines built for aging often win nothing? Yes. But far many more times than not, the wines that make it to the medal rounds are solid wines, worthy of your attention.

Judging these wines makes a person a bit humble when the winner of a round is often the least expensive wine. Too many people in America are trophy hunters, drummed on by Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate. Less that 90 points? Forget it buddy! Well let me tell you, there are a LOT of darn good 85 point wines out there selling for a fraction of the cult wines. A good example is the Forest Glen Sangiovese, $10, darn tasty. I turned my neighbor on to this wine and he thought the wheel was reinvented. A wine judging did this for him. That is what it is all about, and we should be striving to push these wines on the masses. How many times have I heard "Ugghh, I don't like wine." Of course they drank from a box. I love to see their eyes light up when I serve them a decent wine. Okay, enough soap box - sorry.

Bucko