vinegar = candied?

Price check in aisle 5 please. Can one ever confuse these. Standard disagreement over the merits of a wine at a local dining establishment. Wine in question is a Bollinger RD. Normally would not even ask as I feel it was clearly flawed but I have limited experience with RD champagnes so thought it best to ask.

So what's your question?
Vinegar == flawed.
Candied == flawed.
Vinegar + candied == flawed^2 == GACK!!

'Nuf said?

And BTW IMA(rrogant)O those judgments apply to any wine regardless of kind, appellation or brand name.

John

Trying to parse. If you are saying some say candied, others vinegar, doesn't seem like all are sensing same thing in wine.That being said, either in a Bollinger RD is a pretty good sign the wine sucks.

I'm unclear on this also...but what the hell:

Could it be that what you are describing is something like a balsamic vinegar? Or maybe even a sweet soy? Did it also seem just the tiniest bit flat (or rather,not quite as crisply bubbly as you would expect)?

You can find that sometimes in older, more mature champagnes, especially the ones with lots of Pinot Noir composition.

I should have been more clear. The phrase in question was when told that what I considered vinegar was candied sweetness which is normal in aged champagnes. To me it seems odd that the two of us could ever be talking about the same wine using those different terms for the same taste but he was clear in that point.

The wine was a touch flat but I expected that. I guess one could consider it like balsamic or sweet soy which is where he was going. If so then the question is should that have been the dominate flavor because in this case to this taster it was.

I should note that they took the bottle back anyway so there is no hard feelings about that. It is really an education question since I am not experienced in aged champagne and if this is really the way the taste I will just stay away from them entirely.

Vinegar is acetic acid. It has a very distinctive aroma. Go open a bottle of distilled white vinegar and you'll get the pure essence of this aroma. Oxidized fruit aromas (sherry or madeira-type smells, or soy sauce) are distinctly different.

Whiffs of vinegar or of nail polish are always a major flaw in Champagne. Oxidized fruit I might expect, but it, too, is a flaw in excess.

-Paul W.

Whiffs of vinegar or of nail polish are always a major flaw in Champagne. Oxidized fruit I might expect, but it, too, is a flaw in excess.

Agree.

And while I could at a pinch accept that balsamic vinegar or soy sauce was sweet, they are hardly what I would describe as candied. And anyway, none of those descriptors sound good to me either.

Er, what is Bollinger RS? I mean the RS bit.

Er, what is Bollinger RS? I mean the RS bit.

Fixed, my typo (the D is next to the S, ya know).

Er, what is Bollinger RS? I mean the RS bit.

RD = recently disgorged

Ah, I see.

I don't think RD Champagnes should differ from any others in respect of the flavours under discussion here.

I don't think anyone implied that they did. I'd consider vinegar a flaw in any Champagne, I might accept a "candied" descriptor for a demi-sec or doux. I'd not expect either vinegar or candied in a Brut Champagne (and not accept it in an expensive one).

I don't think anyone implied that they did.

And I didn't mean to imply they implied that they did. I think

Actually I have just noticed that the RS typo was yours, Dale - just forget I said anything about it at all - it's getting far too complicated!