High Altitude Wines

[zim]

I'm living in the foothills of the Rockies where wine tastes like vinegar. I can't afford to travel to sea level every time I want a good glass of wine. Does anyone have any recommendations for medium bodied reds that are tasty at high altitudes (6,000-10,000 feet)? I would appreciate any suggestions! Thanks!

[Thomas]

Is this an attempt at humor?

[zim]

Really it's true! Okay maybe it doesn't taste quite like vinegar but it's nowhere near as good as it is at sea level!

I had an incredible bottle of wine this summer in California. Bought the same wine, same year, etc. up here in Boulder and was very disappointed.

A friend of mine was on a plane and was fortunate enough to be riding first class. They offered her a list of wines that were hand selected since they fared well at high altitudes. I've been searching for a list like this ever since.

[Thomas]

Many years ago I lived in the Near East, at 3,000, and then 6,000 feet elevation. I do not recall having the kind of problem you talk about, and I have not heard of any studies on such matters (perhaps someone else on the board has).

I certainly have never heard of an airline selecting wine for its ability to fly, but it seems they couldn't do a worse job selecting that way than whatever way they do select. Of course, we wine writers don't get to go First Class...

[Randy Caparoso]

I've been to super-high, heady places like Denver and Aspen many times, and have had no problems with wines tasting less satisfactory than at sea level (and I live in Hawaii!). I know you're being honest; but in all honesty, I think this altitude thing is a little in your mind.

[Bucko]

I posed the question to a bunch of wine geeks and here are some replies:

Actually, taste is affected by altitude/low pressure. That's why airline food tastes like crap, despite lots of salt being added.
Chuck

The wines taste fine here in Boulder CO and in fact way up in Aspen and Vail. This is a strange post. Likely a joke..........as far a airline food goes well it taste like crap because that is the main ingredient of most of the meals. Truly........pick up the tray next time and read the list of ingredients. Number 1 is crap. Now the better airlines use better quality crap, but really crap is crap. So that is what you taste. How many of you have ever looked at the bottom of your trays??
greg

Aspen is known for, among other things, its restaurants. We've had delicious food and wine there. Last summer we stopped at Mezzaluna before boarding the plane just so we could avoid the airline's crap. Took out two of their chinese chicken salads for dining in the sky and can attest to the fact that in no way was it affected by the altitude. Last week we brought our own food on board a flight from London to Philadelphia. The bread, cheeses, &
chutney were wonderful; USAir's wine was dreck. Altitude.......baloney. Crap is crap whether on the ground or in the air!
Carole

Airlines have done taste comparisons with wines served on the ground and in the air with fairly consistent results. Only potential issue is the extremely low humidity which dries out mucus membraine and MAY effect some people's sense of smell and taste. BTW, at a tasting of 82 1st growths at the Aspen F&W Classic a couple of years ago, RWP said some of the wines didn't seem *correct* to him (he questioned shipping, storage, altitude, etc.) but others on the tasting panel, including Ch. owners and another wine writer very familiar with the wines, said they were all very consistent with other bottles tasted elsewhere.
Michael

One possible explanation for any difference in taste between high and low altitudes is the "celebration factor." That's the case for those people like us who don't live at high altitudes, but love to go there (Tahoe and the Sierras) on vacation. On vacation, everything tastes good because you're so excited to be there, or everything tastes like dishwater, because you're so wrung out from the day's activities. I can attest though that for us low-landers, the effects of alcohol pack a bigger punch at altitude, both initially, and the next day. I can't think of any physiological reason why things would taste any different though.
Puzzled Karena

I think we are having our collective legs pulled again by our old friend. I spend about 25% of my time in Colorado in the Rockies at about 8000-9000 ft. The wine tastes exactly the same as it does at in Ohio at 900 ft.
RV

I'm no scientist, but I can sure come up with a plausible physiological explanation for losing taste at altitude. 80-90% of what we experience as taste comes from smell. Smell is transmitted by air. There is less air at altitude, therefore less medium for transmission of smells. If you take an extreme case, there is no smell in a vacuum (i.e. outer space). There is smell at sea level. Why wouldn't the ability to smell decrease on a continuum as you moved from 1 atmosphere to 0 atmoshere? Fact is, it does. Can you perceive a difference at 2,000 ft? 5,000? 20,000? My answers are no, maybe and yes.
Chuck

Well, I am a scientist, though not an atmospheric scientist, and I think the effect should be precisely the opposite. Smelling the wine is a product of aeration/evaporation/particulate aeration, etc. Any of the proceesees that favor the odor moving to your nose should be favored by low atmospheric pressure, in the same way that evaporation of water would be favored by low atmospheric pressure.
John

Intersting and thought provoking question, Zim.

Bucko

[glenora]

Foodie--

Perhaps this helps explain why wines taste better when consumed on the shores of Seneca Lake (435 above sea-level)than when enjoyed on the shores of your beloved Keuka Lake (700+ feet above sea-level)

[Thomas]

Who is that masked glenora?

So, if I taste wines produced on Seneca Lake here at the high altitude of Keuka they will not be as good as they are when tasted on Seneca?

[winoweenie]

This must be a put-on. We spend a lot of time in Vail every summer, take a bunch of wine with us, all from our cellar, are familiar with every bottle, and cain`t ever remember a time when there was any discernable difference in taste. Sometimes my tongue is so coated from the previous nites activities that I couldn`t tell the difference between Glenlivit and Glen Ellen. Winoweenie