WTN: On the futility of wine writing

"Many of the people who came to us were of the kind who would be a nuisance anywhere but have special opportunities in a bookshop." Among bookshop keepers this is the most famous George Orwell quote, much more so than those Animal Farm or 1984 ones that are commonly mentioned. But those of us who survive in the business longer than Orwell did, survive largely because we not only see the nastiest (and smelliest!) customers on the planet; we see the nicest, most warmhearted ones, too.

I have one regular customer who doesn't talk much but he buys and sells good books and seems like an uncommonly sweet personality. I even give him a 10% discount these days. Somehow he found out that I like wine, so now, before going north for Christmas, he came to our shop for the last time this year and gave me a bottle of wine for Christmas.

Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 - Napa Valley; 14,5% abv
What surprised me most is how after such circumstances my critical faculties completely failed. This smelled and tasted lovely with a chunk of bloody lamb. But without this feeling of being appreciated so much that a regular customer will give me such an expensive bottle, I am sure I would not have enjoyed such a minty, oaky, chocolatey, sweet, candied yet extracted wine as this. Yet I honestly did enjoy it. And this is why all wine writing is futile. And since I'm unable to lie about overcoming such feelings, this is why I'll never be a pro in wine writing! [Big Grin] Today, this is awesome. I suspect that tomorrow I would call it spoofy and say nasty things about it.

Sometimes the occasion trumps the palate.

Sometimes the occasion trumps the palate.

Indeed.. and why evaluating wine, as Otto says, can be so emotionally charged. And why we should all be, perhaps, a bit more humble in our `opinions,' as they may have been colored by the day's events, too much garlic, a headache, an empty stomach, a full stomach, well.. you get the idea.

Sometimes it's not what a wine tastes like, but what it was like tasting it.

[Jenise]

What a great tasting note: the mighty Otto has fallen. As we all do. Bravo to you for not letting your left brain talk your right brain out of posting that.

[Jenise]

Otto, just minutes after reading your post, I stumbled across another tasting note that's tangentially related to your topic, so decided to share.

I love reading the first lines in a book. It is an art in itself, choosing those first right words that set up everything to follow. Well, perhaps it's also true with most things written. Your opening Orwell quote, for one. So anyway, I was just now looking for some current information re the drinkability of certain Bordeauxs on CellarTracker, and after reading note after note about plums and chocolate and what else, came across this nugget of a tasting note that made me clap with guilty joy, for how often I should say the same thing: Definitely regretting my excessive enthusiasm for this a year ago. So much said with so little.

Jenise, all this excitement so early in the morning!! Your sleeping problems seem similar to mine.

[Jenise]

Jenise, all this excitement so early in the morning!! Your sleeping problems seem similar to mine.

Poor you! Poor us! I don't sleep well when I have a lot on my mind, and this morning I have a lot on my mind. I love that we have WLDG to come to in such situations.

I think it is misleading thinking to assume, as so many people seem to, that aesthetic judgements are anything but situational.

If you are in the mood for something, it will seem fare better than when you have just struggled through a sea of a similar wine, and associations will matter - a gift from a friend will always be given more leeway than one from an enemy (which might remain stoppered for fear of what's in it, but that's another issue).

I've often posted as you did, that a wine was not truly a great example of the kind, but that it had special significance or that it hit the spot for whatever reason, with the express or implied proviso that a reader should keep that in mind when assessing whether they might like it, when lacking that special significance or situation.

Nice you were able to enjoy a wine you may not have liked otherwise. I've still got older Beringer PRs in the cellar from the 1990s, but I haven't found them excessively extracted, but I will make a point of going back to one soon to check that impression.

I wonder how many other bibliophiles (I make the assumption that you are such, although it isn't necessarily so for one to be in the business) there might be on this site? Always interesting to find other fans of music, books, cars, anything one has enthusiasm for.

My intent in my notes is only ever to relate the experience of drinking the wine, and will include in my notes comments about the circumstances, food pairings, etc., if they had some special impact. If it gave you special pleasure on that occasion in those circumstances, then it was a special bottle.